* [CVE-2026-92523][LOW] RDMA/nldev: validate dynamic counter attribute length [ Upstream
@ 2026-09-18 4:46 21% AL-KERNEL
0 siblings, 0 replies; 1+ results
From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-09-18 4:46 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-92523
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: RDMA/nldev: validate dynamic counter attribute length [ Upstream
Commit: 7828d68ae8cad3463e38def5c91668c84e722596
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=7828d68ae8cad3463e38def5c91668c84e722596
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-92523
Analysis date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:46:36 -0400
ActionableScore: 1
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate
Manual review required: NO
Summary:
No one-sentence report phrase was found.
======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-92523 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-92523
The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.
The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.
Published priority for this report: LOW
Manual review required: NO
A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.
======================================================================
AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
======================================================================
CVE-2026-92523 LOW https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-92523 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN IMPORTANT Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L';CWE-125;*CWE-20;CWE-130;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '4.4';DESCR 'RDMA nldev accepts RDMA_NLDEV_ATTR_STAT_HWCOUNTERS as a nested attribute, but the previous validation only checked the container and did not enforce that each child payload is exactly one u32. A malformed local RDMA netlink request could make nla_get_u32() read past the end of a short child attribute, which is an invalid kernel read rather than a demonstrated write primitive. For the CVSS the PR:L is used in the paranoid score because delegated CAP_NET_ADMIN or containerized network administration can make this reachable by a non-root local actor, while the base score assumes host administrative RDMA configuration rights. The issue is not directly network reachable and requires local access to the RDMA netlink control plane. Impact is mainly low availability risk or limited confidentiality concern from an OOB read, with no clear evidence of privilege escalation.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate (with actual score 1) YES SIMPLEFIX NETWORK LINUS LOWERED_FROM_HIGH_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS DECREASED_TO_MODERATEREG_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN4 DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3 NO NO checked
======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================
ActionableScore=1
PrimitiveClass=CLASS_C
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=UNKNOWN
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
1. ActionableScore
* Raw conservative score: 1
* Conservative score: 1
* Raw paranoid score: 1
* Paranoid score: 1
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate**::
No floor or cap changed the score.
2. Signal breakdown
Positive signals:
* +1 Weak invalid read / malformed structured input. The nested RDMA_NLDEV_ATTR_STAT_HWCOUNTERS children are read with nla_get_u32() without first proving that each child payload is exactly sizeof(u32). A short child attribute can therefore cause a small out-of-attribute read.
Negative or non-awarded signals:
* +0 Real UAF. No lifetime bug, stale pointer, double release, or post-free access is established.
* +0 Reliable kernel crash. The patch establishes an invalid read risk, but no production kernel panic or reliable crash path is shown.
* +0 Confidentiality. No user-visible disclosure path is shown. The overread value is used internally as an index and then bounds checked.
* +0 Integrity. No write primitive, unauthorized state change, or security-boundary bypass is established.
* +0 Remote reachability. This is RDMA netlink control-plane input, not packet-data-plane network traffic.
* +0 Strong exploitation leverage. No controlled reclaim, arbitrary write, type confusion, callback control, or refcount takeover is indicated.
* No privilege penalty applied. RDMA nldev configuration likely requires administrative or delegated capability, but the supplied patch excerpt does not fully establish the exact complete privilege boundary.
3. Reachability analysis
The trigger is a malformed local RDMA netlink request that supplies nested hardware-counter attributes with an invalid child length. The affected path is a control-plane configuration operation, not normal RDMA data traffic and not directly network reachable.
The exact privilege requirement is not fully visible in the supplied excerpt. RDMA nldev configuration commonly involves administrative permissions such as CAP_NET_ADMIN or equivalent RDMA device-management rights, but the complete check and namespace scope are not shown here. Therefore HostAdminRequired is UNKNOWN rather than YES, and NamespaceScopedPrivilege is UNKNOWN rather than YES.
No prior special hardware exploit condition beyond the presence of the relevant RDMA/nldev functionality is needed for the code path, but practical reachability depends on whether the attacker can issue this RDMA netlink command. No race or timing condition is involved.
4. Primitive and severity interpretation
The exact primitive is a small invalid read caused by calling nla_get_u32() on a nested netlink child attribute whose payload length may be shorter than four bytes. This is not an active structured UAF, not fixed stale storage, and not a repeated release/refcount mutation.
The demonstrated consequence is malformed-input handling with a potential out-of-attribute kernel read. The patch does not establish a useful disclosure channel, memory write, privilege escalation, or kernel crash. The index read from the malformed attribute is still checked against stats->num_counters and optional-counter flags before use.
PrimitiveClass is CLASS_C because the issue is primarily invalid-state / invalid-read behavior without an independently useful corruption primitive. ImportantCandidate is NO because no Important-grade exploitation leverage is established. AutoDowngradeAllowed is YES because this can be handled as an ordinary low/moderate validation bug unless external evidence shows a real disclosure, crash, or authorization consequence.
5. One-sentence report phrase
RDMA nldev failed to validate that each nested hardware counter attribute had a u32 payload before nla_get_u32(), allowing malformed local netlink input to cause a small invalid kernel read without a demonstrated leak, write primitive, or privilege escalation.
6. Manual review recommendation
NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED
Reason: the patch supports a local malformed netlink validation bug with limited invalid-read behavior only, and no UAF, write primitive, disclosure path, remote trigger, or privilege-escalation evidence is established.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: medium
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: RDMA/nldev: validate dynamic counter attribute length [ Upstream
Commit: 7828d68ae8cad3463e38def5c91668c84e722596
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=7828d68ae8cad3463e38def5c91668c84e722596
Changed files:
drivers/infiniband/core/nldev.c
Diff excerpt:
Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.
Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=7828d68ae8cad3463e38def5c91668c84e722596
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-92523 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-92523
The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.
The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.
The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.
Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:
Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.4
The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.
CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.
A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.
Conservative ActionableScore: unknown
Paranoid ActionableScore: 1
The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.
For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:
ActionableScore below 5 -> MODERATE REGULAR
ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0
The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.
There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).
KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.
AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: LOW
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW
These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).
Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is [email protected] (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).
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