CVE-2026-43254

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovpn: tcp - fix packet extraction from stream When processing TCP stream data in ovpn_tcp_recv, we receive large cloned skbs from __strp_rcv that may contain multiple coalesced packets. The current implementation has two bugs: 1. Header offset overflow: Using pskb_pull with large offsets on coalesced skbs causes skb->data - skb->head to exceed the u16 storage of skb->network_header. This causes skb_reset_network_header to fail on the inner decapsulated packet, resulting in packet drops. 2. Unaligned protocol headers: Extracting packets from arbitrary positions within the coalesced TCP stream provides no alignment guarantees for the packet data causing performance penalties on architectures without efficient unaligned access. Additionally, openvpn's 2-byte length prefix on TCP packets causes the subsequent 4-byte opcode and packet ID fields to be inherently misaligned. Fix both issues by allocating a new skb for each openvpn packet and using skb_copy_bits to extract only the packet content into the new buffer, skipping the 2-byte length prefix. Also, check the length before invoking the function that performs the allocation to avoid creating an invalid skb. If the packet has to be forwarded to userspace the 2-byte prefix can be pushed to the head safely, without misalignment. As a side effect, this approach also avoids the expensive linearization that pskb_pull triggers on cloned skbs with page fragments. In testing, this resulted in TCP throughput improvements of up to 74%.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-05-06
Last modified 2026-05-11
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.5

out of 10
High
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-190

CVE-2026-43254 is a Integer Overflow vulnerability

What is Integer Overflow?

The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow, leading to unexpected values. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.16, 6.19.6, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 6.16
Fixed in
✓ 6.18.16 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.6 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-43254 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-43254?

    CVE-2026-43254 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10 , classified as an Integer Overflow flaw (CWE-190) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and has been patched in 6.18.16, 6.19.6 and 7.0. CVE-2026-43254 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43254?

    CVE-2026-43254 has a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-43254?

    Yes — CVE-2026-43254 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.16, 6.19.6 and 7.0. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-43254 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2026-43254 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

  • What is Integer Overflow (CWE-190)?

    The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow, leading to unexpected values. View CWE-190 on MITRE CWE →