Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Marvell network driver could cause data corruption or system instability on certain hardware configurations. This occurs because the system fails to properly synchronize network data between the hardware and the processor, potentially leading the computer to read outdated information. This issue primarily affects specialized hardware using non-coherent DMA systems.
Technical details
A vulnerability was identified in the mvpp2 driver within the Linux kernel's networking subsystem. The driver programs an RX queue packet offset (MVPP2_SKB_HEADROOM), but the subsequent CPU synchronization call (dma_sync_single_for_cpu) incorrectly started at the base DMA address without accounting for this offset. This resulted in the synchronization covering unused headroom while failing to cover the actual packet tail. On non-coherent DMA systems, this leads to the CPU reading stale cache contents for the end of received frames. The fix involves using dma_sync_single_range_for_cpu() to correctly offset the synchronization range.
Affected products
- Linux Linux kernel 5.5 to 6.9.4
Timeline
- 2026-06-07: patched: Initial patch submitted by Til Kaiser
- 2026-06-25: advisory: CVE-2026-53217 published in NVD
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/180235600934bef6add3be637c296d6cf3272e67
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19f8bc139e9b149d1e5bf75ae761d1bb8dd3e7d8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23548007b3c66d628fc7d6b80d1e23be04ea10d9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/60412bdd1b2576659eac23a23d2d9ff96228a643
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a13199fa224e9f776f4005d5037df03aa9ea8f37
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3ad9b5767c89531fc7dae951b51b0933dcf7051
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bede0f481b9137d73d1cf64309cbe4b94818a5d6