Vulnerability · CVE-2026-99025
openvswitch: fix soft lockup in the netlink flow dump
Published Oct 23, 2026 · catalog updated Oct 23, 2026 · Linux Linux
Last checked Nov 3, 2026. A connected source was read within the last 7 days.
Check if you run it
No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-99025. EPSS is 0.18%. Act only if a listed version of Linux Linux is installed.
Gaps on this record
- No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
- No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
Same product and reporting
- CVE-2026-99260 · Medium
- CVE-2026-99259 · Medium
- CVE-2026-99258 · High
- CVE-2026-99257 · Medium
- CVE-2026-99255 · Medium
- Severity
- Medium—
- Known exploitation
- Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
- EPSS
- 0.18%
- Remediation
- Not established
- Affected products
- vendor Linux Linux
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: fix soft lockup in the netlink flow dump A production compute node carrying a few thousand datapath flows hit a soft lockup inside a single netlink flow dump and panicked. ovs_flow_cmd_dump() calls ovs_flow_stats_get() for every flow it emits, and that releases stats->lock with spin_unlock_bh() once per CPU that has touched the flow. Every release is a local_bh_enable(), and each one runs the pending softirq backlog in the dumping thread's own context. The skb bounds the flows one callback emits, but not the softirq work it absorbs. On a CPU that carries the box's packet load the backlog refills as fast as it drains, so the dumping thread becomes that CPU's softirq engine. It never sleeps and it has no reschedule point, so under voluntary preemption nothing can take the CPU away from it: neither the ksoftirqd the kernel woke to take the work over, nor the stopper thread the softlockup detector dispatches to refresh its timestamp. Hold BH off across the whole callback instead, the way ctnetlink_dump_table() does, so the nested spin_unlock_bh() stop draining softirqs. The loop already runs under rcu_read_lock() and cannot sleep. What it gives up is preemption under CONFIG_PREEMPT, since a BH-off region is not preemptible outside PREEMPT_RT. The region stays short: the skb caps the flows one callback emits, and empty buckets cost no skb space but are each visited once per dump, as the cursor only moves forward. The table grows on insert and shrinks only on flush, so the walk is bounded by the largest flow count the datapath has held. The softirq backlog the callback used to absorb has no bound at all.
Are you affected?
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- vendor Linux Linuxversion unspecified
How to fix CVE-2026-99025
No stored fix
No vendor fix text is stored. Use the linked advisory before you change production.
Version check
No version range is stored, so an installed version cannot be checked on this page.
Advisory
Open the cve_org record and follow its fix.
Official advisories
What to do
Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.
Should you patch?
No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-99025. EPSS is 0.18%. Act only if a listed version of Linux Linux is installed.
Which versions are affected?
Affected version ranges are not on this record. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.
What should an analyst verify?
No weakness class is stored. EPSS 0.18%. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.
Code
The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.
Timeline
Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.
Oct 23, 2026 · Tenable CVE Database
Detected
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: fix soft lockup in the netlink flow dump A production compute node carrying a few thousand datapath flows hit a soft lockup inside a single netlink flow dump and panicked. ovs_flow_cmd_dump() calls ovs_flow_stats_get() for every flow it emits, and that releases stats->lock with spin_unlock_bh() once per CPU that has t
Oct 23, 2026 · CVE.org
Updated
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: fix soft lockup in the netlink flow dump A production compute node carrying a few thousand datapath flows hit a soft lockup inside a single netlink flow dump and panicked. ovs_flow_cmd_dump() calls ovs_flow_stats_get() for every flow it emits, and that releases stats->lock with spin_unlock_bh() once per CPU that has t
Sources
- CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2026-99025
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: fix soft lockup in the netlink flow dump A production compute node carrying a few thousand datapath flows hit a soft lockup inside a single netlink flow dump and panicked. ovs_flow_cmd_dump() calls o
cve.org - FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2026-99025
30-day exploitation probability 0.18%
first.org - Tenable CVE DatabaseVulnerability recordCVE-2026-99025
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: fix soft lockup in the netlink flow dump A production compute node carrying a few thousand datapath flows hit a soft lockup inside a single netlink flow dump and panicked. ovs_flow_cmd_dump() calls ovs_flow_stats_get() for every flow it emits, and that releases stats->lock with spin_unlock_bh() once per CPU that has t
tenable.com
References
Freshness
Last verified in this catalog Nov 3, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.
- FIRST EPSSOct 31, 2026
- CVE.orgOct 25, 2026
- Tenable CVE DatabaseOct 23, 2026