CVE-2026-99043 is a vulnerability in Linux Kernel
Published on October 23, 2026
ice: fix metadata_dst refcount handling on representor teardown
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ice: fix metadata_dst refcount handling on representor teardown
ice_eswitch_release_repr() uses metadata_dst_free() to release the
representor's metadata_dst. metadata_dst_free() directly frees the
underlying memory without checking the dst_entry refcount.
When ice_eswitch_port_start_xmit() processes a packet, it takes a
reference via dst_hold() and attaches the metadata_dst to the skb.
If the representor is torn down while packets are still queued on
the lower device (e.g. in a qdisc), the metadata_dst is freed while
references are still held.
Use dst_release() instead, which correctly decrements the refcount
and only frees the object when all references are dropped. The dst
subsystem already handles metadata_dst cleanup in dst_destroy() when
DST_METADATA is set.
Other drivers sharing this pattern (nfp, airoha, bnxt) already use
dst_release() for their metadata_dst lifecycle.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-99043
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Affected Versions
Linux:- Version f5396b8a663f7a78ee5b75a47ee524b40795b265 and below 1f263235651775f93c15d90c9f25c3f4a4ef6512 is affected.
- Version f5396b8a663f7a78ee5b75a47ee524b40795b265 and below 6f5544f53f1e58ea8a49fb9f9158d5793b9205b0 is affected.
- Version f5396b8a663f7a78ee5b75a47ee524b40795b265 and below beb05f484a1e4a5a66e3678e4b7f3147f651c080 is affected.
- Version f5396b8a663f7a78ee5b75a47ee524b40795b265 and below 5e4d20db5179e83a4948927bc39e489a9a83256d is affected.
- Version f5396b8a663f7a78ee5b75a47ee524b40795b265 and below 58858b8f14803a7eeac297b3ce20f3b21bf2ff66 is affected.
- Version 5.16 is affected.
- Before 5.16 is unaffected.
- Version 6.6.160, <= 6.6.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.12.113, <= 6.12.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.18.57, <= 6.18.* is unaffected.
- Version 7.2.11, <= 7.2.* is unaffected.
- Version 7.3, <= * is unaffected.