Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-46165

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: vport: fix self-deadlock on release of tunnel ports vports are used concurrently and protected by RCU, so netdev_put() must happen after the RCU grace period. So, either in an RCU call or after the synchronize_net(). The rtnl_delete_link() must happen under RTNL and so can't be executed in RCU context. Calling synchronize_net() while holding RTNL is not a good idea for performance and system stability under load in general, so calling netdev_put() in RCU call is the right solution here. However, when the device is deleted, rtnl_unlock() will call netdev_run_todo() and block until all the references are gone. In the current code this means that we never reach the call_rcu() and the vport is never freed and the reference is never released, causing a self-deadlock on device removal. Fix that by moving the rcu_call() before the rtnl_unlock(), so the scheduled RCU callback will be executed when synchronize_net() is called from the rtnl_unlock()->netdev_run_todo() while the RTNL itself is already released.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.001 (1.9th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 2nd percentile — 1.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-46165: held from 0.001 to 0.001.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 7.0.7, 9d56aced21fb9c104e8a3f3be9b21fbafe448ffc, 6.1.175
  • Linux Kernel — versions 7.0, 7.1

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-46165?
CVE-2026-46165 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Improper Locking. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-05-28.
How severe is CVE-2026-46165?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.