CVE-2026-97957 net: hinic: fix mailbox segment buffer overflow
A heap buffer overflow in the Linux kernel hinic network driver allows attackers to potentially execute code or cause a system crash.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-97957?
CVE-2026-97957 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 Sep 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: hinic: fix mailbox segment buffer overflow
check_mbox_seq_id_and_seg_len() validates that seq_id does not exceed SEQ_ID_MAX_VAL (42) and seg_len does not exceed MBOX_SEG_LEN (48). However, this allows the last segment (seq_id=42) to carry a full 48-byte payload, writing to offset 42*48=2016 for 48 bytes (ending at byte 2064). The receive buffer is only MBOX_MAX_BUF_SZ (2048) bytes, resulting in a 16-byte heap buffer overflow.
The hinic3 driver already handles this correctly by defining MBOX_LAST_SEG_MAX_LEN and rejecting the last segment when it exceeds the remaining buffer space. Apply the same fix to the hinic driver.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97957?
How do I fix CVE-2026-97957?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-97957 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97957 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-104207, BELL-CVE-2026-97957, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97957, GHSA-f67x-rg3m-rrxf, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97957.