In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
virtio_net: Do not send RSS key if it is not supported
There is a bug when setting the RSS options in virtio_net that can break
the whole machine, getting the kernel into an infinite loop.
Running the following command in any QEMU virtual machine with virtionet
will reproduce this problem:
# ethtool -X eth0 hfunc toeplitz
This is how the problem happens:
1) ethtool_set_rxfh() calls virtnet_set_rxfh()
2) virtnet_set_rxfh() calls virtnet_commit_rss_command()
3) virtnet_commit_rss_command() populates 4 entries for the rss
scatter-gather
4) Since the command above does not have a key, then the last
scatter-gatter entry will be zeroed, since rss_key_size == 0.
sg_buf_size = vi->rss_key_size;
5) This buffer is passed to qemu, but qemu is not happy with a buffer
with zero length, and do the following in virtqueue_map_desc() (QEMU
function):
if (!sz) {
virtio_error(vdev, "virtio: zero sized buffers are not allowed");
6) virtio_error() (also QEMU function) set the device as broken
vdev->broken = true;
7) Qemu bails out, and do not repond this crazy kernel.
8) The kernel is waiting for the response to come back (function
virtnet_send_command())
9) The kernel is waiting doing the following :
while (!virtqueue_get_buf(vi->cvq, &tmp) &&
!virtqueue_is_broken(vi->cvq))
cpu_relax();
10) None of the following functions above is true, thus, the kernel
loops here forever. Keeping in mind that virtqueue_is_broken() does
not look at the qemu vdev->broken, so, it never realizes that the
vitio is broken at QEMU side.
Fix it by not sending RSS commands if the feature is not available in
the device.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (5.5): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 5.5 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 5.5 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.2% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-25). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it