CVE-2026-43186
CriticalIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: ioam: fix heap buffer overflow in __ioam6_fill_trace_data() On the receive path, __ioam6_fill_trace_data() uses trace->nodelen to decide how much data to write for each node. It trusts this field as-is from the incoming packet, with no consistency check against trace->type (the 24-bit field that tells which data items are present). A crafted packet can set nodelen=0 while setting type bits 0-21, causing the function to write ~100 bytes past the allocated region (into skb_shared_info), which corrupts adjacent heap memory and leads to a kernel panic. Add a shared helper ioam6_trace_compute_nodelen() in ioam6.c to derive the expected nodelen from the type field, and use it: - in ioam6_iptunnel.c (send path, existing validation) to replace the open-coded computation; - in exthdrs.c (receive path, ipv6_hop_ioam) to drop packets whose nodelen is inconsistent with the type field, before any data is written. Per RFC 9197, bits 12-21 are each short (4-octet) fields, so they are included in IOAM6_MASK_SHORT_FIELDS (changed from 0xff100000 to 0xff1ffc00).
CVSS 3.1 score
9.8
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness type
CWE-787CVE-2026-43186 is a Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability
What is Out-of-bounds Write?
The product writes data past the end or before the beginning of the intended buffer. Learn more on MITRE CWE
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
5.15
and later are affected. Fixed in
5.15.202,
6.1.165,
6.6.128,
6.12.75,
6.18.16,
6.19.6,
7.0
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-43186 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0591d6509c2ff13f09ea2998434aba0c0472e978
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/632d233cf2e64a46865ae2c064ae3c9df7c8864f
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6db8b56eed62baacaf37486e83378a72635c04cc
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-43186?
CVE-2026-43186 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10 , classified as an Out-of-bounds Write flaw (CWE-787) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.15 onward and has been patched in 5.15.202, 6.1.165, 6.6.128 and others. CVE-2026-43186 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43186?
CVE-2026-43186 has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, rated Critical severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. -
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-43186?
Yes — CVE-2026-43186 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.15.202, 6.1.165, 6.6.128 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.15 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-43186 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2026-43186 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
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What is Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)?
The product writes data past the end or before the beginning of the intended buffer. View CWE-787 on MITRE CWE →