UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90146: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Q: Who is realistically exposed to this issue?

Systems running an affected Ubuntu Linux kernel are exposed only where a user can create an XDP link and subsequently use BPF_LINK_UPDATE. The CVSS vector indicates local access and high privileges are required; no user interaction is required.

Q: What does an attacker need to do to trigger the flaw?

An attacker must first create an XDP link using a normal program, then replace it through BPF_LINK_UPDATE with an offloaded or device-bound program. The missing validation can cause that replacement program to be installed on the software path.

Q: Are all XDP attachment methods affected in the same way?

The bypass is specific to the BPF_LINK_UPDATE path, which calls dev_xdp_install() directly and previously skipped checks in dev_xdp_attach(). The ip link set xdp and BPF_LINK_CREATE paths reach dev_xdp_install() through dev_xdp_attach().

Q: What validation does the fix enforce?

The fix moves program validation into dev_xdp_install(), the common installation path. This covers offloaded programs, programs bound to another device, device-bound programs in generic mode, native-versus-generic mode checks, and DEVMAP and CPUMAP cases.

Published Sep 17, 2026

Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, xdp: move offload check into devxdpinstall() bpfxdplinkupdate() calls devxdpinstall() directly and skips devxdpattach(), so the checks in devxdpattach() do not run. A user can make an XDP link with a normal program and then swap in an offloaded or device-bound program with BPFLINKUPDATE, which puts it on the software path. devxdpinstall() is the one place all three paths go through: "ip link set xdp" and BPFLINKCREATE reach it via devxdpattach(), and BPFLINKUPDATE calls it directly. So move the program checks (offloaded, bound to another device, device-bound in generic mode, native vs generic, DEVMAP and CPUMAP) there, and keep only the netlink-flag check (XDPFLAGSUPDATEIFNOEXIST) in devxdpattach().

Affected Software

200 affected componentsFixes available

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-oem*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-raspi2*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-ibm*

ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg*

ubuntu/linux-kvm*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igx*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp*

ubuntu/linux-bluefield*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0<7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1

7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-ibm*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oracle*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0<7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1

7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-xilinx*

ubuntu/linux-bluefield*

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux<7.0.0-42.42

7.0.0-42.42

ubuntu/linux-aws<7.0.0-1016.17

7.0.0-1016.17

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<7.0.0-1016.18

7.0.0-1016.18

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-ibm<7.0.0-1017.17

7.0.0-1017.17

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-bos*

ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0<7.0.0-1017.17

7.0.0-1017.17

ubuntu/linux-oracle<7.0.0-1015.16

7.0.0-1015.16

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv<7.0.0-42.42.1

7.0.0-42.42.1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.16
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1

Event History

Sep 17, 2026

CVE Published

via OSV·05:17 PM

Data Sourced

via OSV·05:17 PM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is realistically exposed to this issue?

Systems running an affected Ubuntu Linux kernel are exposed only where a user can create an XDP link and subsequently use BPF_LINK_UPDATE. The CVSS vector indicates local access and high privileges are required; no user interaction is required.

What does an attacker need to do to trigger the flaw?

An attacker must first create an XDP link using a normal program, then replace it through BPF_LINK_UPDATE with an offloaded or device-bound program. The missing validation can cause that replacement program to be installed on the software path.

Are all XDP attachment methods affected in the same way?

The bypass is specific to the BPF_LINK_UPDATE path, which calls dev_xdp_install() directly and previously skipped checks in dev_xdp_attach(). The ip link set xdp and BPF_LINK_CREATE paths reach dev_xdp_install() through dev_xdp_attach().

What validation does the fix enforce?

The fix moves program validation into dev_xdp_install(), the common installation path. This covers offloaded programs, programs bound to another device, device-bound programs in generic mode, native-versus-generic mode checks, and DEVMAP and CPUMAP cases.

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90146: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is realistically exposed to this issue?

What does an attacker need to do to trigger the flaw?

Are all XDP attachment methods affected in the same way?

What validation does the fix enforce?

Company

Resources

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is realistically exposed to this issue?

What does an attacker need to do to trigger the flaw?

Are all XDP attachment methods affected in the same way?

What validation does the fix enforce?