What is CVE-2026-43221?

CVE-2026-43221 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 5.16 onward and patched in 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75 and others. CVE-2026-43221 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43221?

CVE-2026-43221 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-43221?

Yes, CVE-2026-43221 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-43221 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-43221 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-43221

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipmi: ipmb: initialise event handler read bytes IPMB doesn't use i2c reads, but the handler needs to set a value. Otherwise an i2c read will return an uninitialised value from the bus driver.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-05-06

Last modified 2026-05-12

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-908

CVE-2026-43221 is classified as CWE-908

See CWE-908 on MITRE CWE for full details on this weakness type.

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75, 6.18.16, 6.19.6, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 5.16

Fixed in

✓ 6.1.165 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.128 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.75 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.16 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.6 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-43221 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/102712417bb6aa9a00d852bc59cb0a276db486c4
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2dfbc8c17dd161885336e77e71c336cd62cf6748
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/56d5c0557e53c4d8d92a619fa83eaae178165e07
Patch

6 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-43221

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-05-06

Modified 2026-05-12

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-43221?

CVE-2026-43221 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.16 onward and has been patched in 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75 and others. CVE-2026-43221 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43221?

CVE-2026-43221 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-43221?

Yes — CVE-2026-43221 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-43221 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2026-43221 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.