---
id: CVE-2026-80998
title: 'kernel: net: bnxt: ring the doorbell when SW USO exits early (CVE-2026-80998)'
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's `bnxt` network driver. When processing
  a burst of packets, the driver may fail to notify the network device (ring the
  doorbell) if the Software UDP Segmentation Offload (SW USO) path exits
  prematurely…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: vendor
cwe: CWE-841
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
affected:
  - openshift_container_platform 4
published: '2026-09-11'
updated: '2026-09-14'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-14T20:26:53+00:00'
source: CSAF
sourceUrl: 'https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80998.json'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80998.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-80998'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2532129'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-80998'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80998'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-80998.mbox
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/48d1c9665db6e3d4aeca62eb669377162ebc6fdf'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e15e89faac9f308baeb01f46c13a051814d2449'
tags:
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00488
epssPercentile: 0.3932
scores:
  vendor: 5.9
  cna: 7.5
ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T15:23:07.476Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's `bnxt` network driver. When processing a burst of packets, the driver may fail to notify the network device (ring the doorbell) if the Software UDP Segmentation Offload (SW USO) path exits prematurely. This oversight can lead to a transmit (TX) queue stall, rendering the network interface unresponsive and causing a Denial of Service (DoS) for network communications.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · updated 2026-09-14 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80998.json)

**kernel: net: bnxt: ring the doorbell when SW USO exits early** — rated Moderate by Red Hat. Released 2026-09-11, updated 2026-09-14.

Not affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

## Remediation

Refer to the advisory for fix availability.