# CVE-2026-53371: RDMA/ionic: bound node_desc sysfs read with %.64s

> A missing null-termination check in the Linux kernel RDMA ionic driver allows local attackers to read adjacent kernel memory via sysfs.

- **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:** 19 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-53371, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53371, GHSA-wcp7-j68j-j6mv, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53371

## What is CVE-2026-53371?

CVE-2026-53371 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 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:

RDMA/ionic: bound node_desc sysfs read with %.64s

node_desc[64] in struct ib_device is not guaranteed to be NUL-
terminated. The core IB sysfs handler uses "%.64s" for exactly this
reason (drivers/infiniband/core/sysfs.c:1307), since node_desc_store()
performs a raw memcpy of up to IB_DEVICE_NODE_DESC_MAX bytes with no NUL
termination:

  memcpy(desc.node_desc, buf, min_t(int, count, IB_DEVICE_NODE_DESC_MAX));

If exactly 64 bytes are written via the node_desc sysfs file, the array
contains no NUL byte. The ionic hca_type_show() handler uses unbounded
"%s" and will read past the end of node_desc into adjacent fields of
struct ib_device until it encounters a NUL.

ionic supports IB_DEVICE_MODIFY_NODE_DESC, so this is triggerable by
userspace.

Match the core handler and bound the format specifier.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53371?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53371?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53371 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53371 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-2026-53371 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53371 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 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-2026-53371 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-2026-53371/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53371/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53371
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53371
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53371

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53371/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.