CVE-2026-74709: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: clear metadata pointer when no timestamp is requested User space can change metadata

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: clear metadata pointer when no timestamp is requested User space can change metadata

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: clear metadata pointer when no timestamp is requested User space can change metadata flags after request processing. Rereading them during completion can therefore make the kernel write a timestamp that was not requested when the packet was submitted. Clear the metadata pointer during request processing unless timestamp completion is requested. Completion handling can then use the pointer itself instead of rereading the flags. On the mlx5 multi-packet WQE path metadata is evaluated per batch: xsk_tx_metadata_request() runs only for the descriptor that starts a session, just like the checksum offload that is applied once through the shared WQE. Only that descriptor's pointer is reset, so completion handling can record a timestamp for the other descriptors of the session regardless of their own XDP_TXMD_FLAGS_TIMESTAMP bit. The write stays inside the metadata area; the single-WQE, other zero-copy, and generic paths reset the pointer per descriptor and are unaffected.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.21%, higher than 10% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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