# CVE-2026-45940: net: stmmac: fix oops when split header is enabled

> A null pointer dereference in the stmmac network driver causes a kernel oops when split header mode is enabled, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-88761, BELL-CVE-2026-45940, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45940, GHSA-fr2g-jcmh-j266, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-45940, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-45940, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-45940, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-45940, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45940, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45940

## What is CVE-2026-45940?

CVE-2026-45940 is a medium-severity 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:

net: stmmac: fix oops when split header is enabled

For GMAC4, when split header is enabled, in some rare cases, the
hardware does not fill buf2 of the first descriptor with payload.
Thus we cannot assume buf2 is always fully filled if it is not
the last descriptor. Otherwise, the length of buf2 of the second
descriptor will be calculated wrong and cause an oops:

Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ffff00019246bfc0
...
x2 : 0000000000000040 x1 : ffff00019246bfc0 x0 : ffff00009246c000
Call trace:
 dcache_inval_poc+0x28/0x58 (P)
 dma_direct_sync_single_for_cpu+0x38/0x6c
 __dma_sync_single_for_cpu+0x34/0x6c
 stmmac_napi_poll_rx+0x8f0/0xb60
 __napi_poll.constprop.0+0x30/0x144
 net_rx_action+0x160/0x274
 handle_softirqs+0x1b8/0x1fc
...

To fix this, the PL bit-field in RDES3 register is used for all
descriptors, whether it is the last descriptor or not.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45940?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-45940?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-45940 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45940 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-2026-45940 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45940 is a medium-severity 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-2026-45940 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-2026-45940/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45940/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45940
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45940
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45940

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45940/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.