PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2026-46177 Linux CVE debrief

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's IPMI driver could allow a misbehaving Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) to cause denial of service through unbounded event/message fetching loops. The driver previously lacked limits on how many events or messages it would fetch from the BMC in a single operation, and could become stuck if the BMC's attention bit remained asserted. The fix introduces a hard limit of 10 fetches per operation and allows message processing between flag fetches to prevent driver stalls.

Vendor: Linux
Product: Unknown
CVSS: HIGH 7.5
CISA KEV: Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published: 2026-05-28
Original CVE updated: 2026-06-10
Advisory published: 2026-05-28
Advisory updated: 2026-06-10

Who should care

System administrators managing servers with IPMI/BMC functionality; Linux distribution maintainers; organizations running infrastructure with out-of-band management capabilities

Technical summary

The Linux kernel IPMI driver previously would fetch events and receive messages from the BMC without limit until the BMC indicated completion. A misbehaving BMC that never signaled completion could cause the driver to loop indefinitely. Additionally, if the SI interface attention state bit became stuck, the driver could become unresponsive. The resolution adds a maximum of 10 fetches per operation and permits message processing between flag fetches to ensure forward progress regardless of BMC state.

Defensive priority

medium

Recommended defensive actions

Apply kernel updates containing the referenced stable commits when available for your distribution
Monitor for kernel package updates addressing CVE-2026-46177
Review BMC firmware for known issues if experiencing IPMI driver hangs
Consider BMC firmware updates from hardware vendors if available

Evidence notes

The vulnerability description indicates this is a defense-in-depth fix for BMC misbehavior rather than an exploitable security flaw in the traditional sense. No CVSS score has been assigned. The fix is described as 'more general' than a previous targeted fix for a specific bad BMC.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

CVE-2026-46177 CVE Program record
Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46177

CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.
CVE-2026-46177 NVD vulnerability detail
Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46177

NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Source reference
Unverified legacy reference

URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d37d2165df9504ea99d9e6181552dc4d2d1ab37

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Source reference
Unverified legacy reference

URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67c44e0deba936d5edaebea356b4589eb43acb5c

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Source reference
Unverified legacy reference

URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c024167fb00489baee08c72182ca2e7dc5fb9f20

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Source reference
Unverified legacy reference

URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c4cca236968683eb0d59abfb12d5c7e4d8514227

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Source reference
Unverified legacy reference

URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e20212b431bef217d3886b86bbc90cc3ed00de68

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.