5,260 Linux Kernel CVEs in 2026 (Year to Date)

Year to date · Updated daily from NIST NVD

2025

In 2026, 5,260 Linux kernel CVEs have been published so far, sourced daily from the NIST National Vulnerability Database. Of these, 416 are rated Critical and 2,135 High severity , with 2 confirmed as actively exploited via the CISA KEV catalog . At the current pace, 2026 is on track to exceed 2025's 5,681 CVEs — with an estimated 7,589 CVEs projected for the full year. A further 1,121 CVEs are still awaiting NVD severity scoring. This page updates daily as new CVEs are published.

5260
Total CVEs
416
Critical
2135
High
1585
Medium
3
Low
2
KEV Exploited

Monthly CVE Breakdown — 2026

CVEs published per month with severity breakdown

Monthly highlight

August (1,651) was the most active month in 2026. Together the top months account for a significant share of 2026's 5,260 total CVEs. March (178) had the lowest volume.

Critical
High
Medium
Low
Current month is partial. Source: NIST NVD API.

Severity Distribution — 2026

Breakdown across 5,260 CVEs

Critical 8%
High 41%
Medium 30%
Low 0%
Awaiting NVD 21%
Severity breakdown

30% Medium · 41% High · 8% Critical. 1,121 CVEs (21%) still awaiting NVD scoring.

Percentages rounded to nearest integer. Awaiting NVD CVEs excluded from severity percentages.

Monthly Counts — 2026

CVE counts by month and severity

Monthly highlight

August was the most active month with 1,651 CVEs — 31% of 2026's total. March (178) had the lowest volume.

Month Total Critical High Medium Low Share of year
January 246 4 64 115 2
5%
February 220 1 45 139 0
4%
March 178 1 61 116 0
3%
April 379 27 159 193 0
7%
May 1,034 42 398 592 1
20%
June 514 40 238 236 0
10%
July 838 88 408 193 0
16%
August 1,651 212 742 1 0
31%
September 200 1 20 0 0
4%
Total 5,260 416 2,135 1,585 3
Click any month to view all CVEs published that month. Current month is partial.

Actively exploited CVEs — 2026

2 CVEs confirmed in CISA KEV catalog

CVE ID Severity CVSS Published Description
CVE-2026-53362 High KEV 7.8 2026-07-04 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: account for fraggap on th…
CVE-2026-31431 High KEV 7.8 2026-04-22 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: algif_aead - Revert to …
KEV data sourced from CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

All CVEs — 2026

5260 CVEs

All (5260) Critical (416) High (2135) Medium (1585) Low (3)
CVE ID Package Severity CVSS Published Description
CVE-2026-80916 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kcov: fix data corruption and race conditions on PR…
CVE-2026-80925 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vlan: fix skb_under_panic and races when toggling H…
CVE-2026-80920 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring: defer eventfd signaling when queued from …
CVE-2026-80917 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: host-generic: Fix NULL pointer dereference on …
CVE-2026-80915 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/xe: Fix DPT allocation paths. Remove the fallba…
CVE-2026-80919 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amdgpu: fix recursive ww_mutex acquire in amdgp…
CVE-2026-80923 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xhci: dbgtty: Fix unregister on tty_register_driver…
CVE-2026-80922 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: qcom-rng - Allow zero as a random number Ze…
CVE-2026-80918 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-09 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: HID: core: fix number/pointer type confusion on lon…
CVE-2026-80893 linux Awaiting NVD 2026-09-04 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix swap entry corruption when clearing…

2026 Linux Kernel CVE Highlights

  • Large backlog awaiting NVD scoring

    1,121 of 2026's CVEs (21%) are still listed as "Awaiting NVD" — meaning no CVSS score has been assigned yet. This is typical for bulk-published CVEs from the Linux kernel CNA: the kernel team publishes CVEs rapidly, and NVD scoring lags by weeks or months.

  • Monthly variation

    CVE publication in 2026 was uneven across months. August was the most active with 1,651 CVEs. March (178) had the lowest volume. Monthly spikes typically correspond to coordinated batches of backfilled CVEs being processed at once.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Linux kernel CVEs were published in 2026?

5,260 Linux kernel CVEs were published in 2026, sourced from the NIST National Vulnerability Database. 416 were rated Critical, 2,135 High severity , and 2 were confirmed as actively exploited via CISA KEV . 1,121 additional CVEs are still awaiting NVD severity scoring.

Which month had the most Linux kernel CVEs in 2026?

August 2026 had the most Linux kernel CVEs of any month in 2026, with 1,651 published — 31% of all 2026 CVEs. View August 2026 CVEs →

How many Linux kernel CVEs in 2026 are actively exploited?

2 Linux kernel CVEs from 2026 are listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild. The actively exploited rate for 2026 is 0 per 1,000 CVEs. View actively exploited CVEs from 2026 →

Why were there so many Linux kernel CVEs in 2026?

The volume of Linux kernel CVEs in 2026 reflects the kernel project's expanded use of its own CVE Numbering Authority (CNA), which began systematically publishing CVEs for a broader range of subsystem-level bugs — including many previously unreported or patched without a CVE assignment. This explains why volume remained high while critical severity counts remained very low.

How does 2026 compare to previous years for Linux kernel CVEs?

2026 had 5,260 CVEs — decrease of 7% compared to 2025's 5,681 . View the full year-by-year breakdown →

2025 statistics All-time stats