# CVE-2026-98029: eth: nfp: bound the ntuple rule dump by the caller's buffer size

> A local user can cause a kernel crash by triggering a null pointer dereference in the NFP network driver when dumping flow steering rules with a zero-sized buffer.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-98029, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98029, GHSA-q4vw-6vrx-f5xg, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98029

## What is CVE-2026-98029?

CVE-2026-98029 is a high-severity 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:

eth: nfp: bound the ntuple rule dump by the caller's buffer size

nfp_net_get_fs_loc() dumps every entry of nn->fs.list into rule_locs[]
without consulting cmd->rule_cnt, which is how many entries the caller
had room for.  ETHTOOL_GRXCLSRLALL requires no CAP_NET_ADMIN and the
ioctl sizes the buffer from the rule_cnt userspace passes in, so once an
admin has installed flow steering rules any user can ask for fewer slots
than there are rules and run off the end of the allocation.  A rule_cnt
of 0 leaves the buffer pointer NULL and the walk dereferences it.

Bail out with -EMSGSIZE when the buffer fills up, the way the other
ntuple capable drivers do, and report how many locations were filled so
a shrinking rule list does not leave the caller reading stale slots.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98029?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98029?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98029 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98029 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98029 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98029 is a high-severity 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98029 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-98029/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98029/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98029
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98029
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98029

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98029/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.