# CVE-2026-45890: xen-netback: reject zero-queue configuration from guest

> A malicious Xen guest can cause a host denial of service by setting zero queues, triggering a kernel warning that panics the system if panic_on_warn is enabled.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 27 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-45890, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45890, GHSA-jc43-3m97-6p35, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-45890, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-45890, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45890, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45890

## What is CVE-2026-45890?

CVE-2026-45890 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

xen-netback: reject zero-queue configuration from guest

A malicious or buggy Xen guest can write "0" to the xenbus key
"multi-queue-num-queues". The connect() function in the backend only
validates the upper bound (requested_num_queues > xenvif_max_queues)
but not zero, allowing requested_num_queues=0 to reach
vzalloc(array_size(0, sizeof(struct xenvif_queue))), which triggers
WARN_ON_ONCE(!size) in __vmalloc_node_range().

On systems with panic_on_warn=1, this allows a guest-to-host denial
of service.

The Xen network interface specification requires
the queue count to be "greater than zero".

Add a zero check to match the validation already present
in xen-blkback, which has included this
guard since its multi-queue support was added.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45890?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-45890?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-45890 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45890 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-45890 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45890 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45890 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45890/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45890/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45890
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45890
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45890

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45890/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.