What is CVE-2026-43441?

CVE-2026-43441 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476), affecting Linux kernel versions from 5.18 onward and patched in 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78 and others. CVE-2026-43441 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43441?

CVE-2026-43441 has a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, rated High severity. 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-2026-43441?

Yes, CVE-2026-43441 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.18 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-43441 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-43441 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2026-43441

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: bonding: Fix nd_tbl NULL dereference when IPv6 is disabled When booting with the 'ipv6.disable=1' parameter, the nd_tbl is never initialized because inet6_init() exits before ndisc_init() is called which initializes it. If bonding ARP/NS validation is enabled, an IPv6 NS/NA packet received on a slave can reach bond_validate_na(), which calls bond_has_this_ip6(). That path calls ipv6_chk_addr() and can crash in __ipv6_chk_addr_and_flags(). BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000005d8 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI RIP: 0010:__ipv6_chk_addr_and_flags+0x69/0x170 Call Trace: <IRQ> ipv6_chk_addr+0x1f/0x30 bond_validate_na+0x12e/0x1d0 [bonding] ? __pfx_bond_handle_frame+0x10/0x10 [bonding] bond_rcv_validate+0x1a0/0x450 [bonding] bond_handle_frame+0x5e/0x290 [bonding] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 __netif_receive_skb_core.constprop.0+0x3e8/0xe50 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? update_cfs_rq_load_avg+0x1a/0x240 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? __enqueue_entity+0x5e/0x240 __netif_receive_skb_one_core+0x39/0xa0 process_backlog+0x9c/0x150 __napi_poll+0x30/0x200 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 net_rx_action+0x338/0x3b0 handle_softirqs+0xc9/0x2a0 do_softirq+0x42/0x60 </IRQ> <TASK> __local_bh_enable_ip+0x62/0x70 __dev_queue_xmit+0x2d3/0x1000 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? packet_parse_headers+0x10a/0x1a0 packet_sendmsg+0x10da/0x1700 ? kick_pool+0x5f/0x140 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 ? __queue_work+0x12d/0x4f0 __sys_sendto+0x1f3/0x220 __x64_sys_sendto+0x24/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x101/0xf80 ? exc_page_fault+0x6e/0x170 ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f </TASK> Fix this by checking ipv6_mod_enabled() before dispatching IPv6 packets to bond_na_rcv(). If IPv6 is disabled, return early from bond_rcv_validate() and avoid the path to ipv6_chk_addr().

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-05-08

Last modified 2026-05-21

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-476

CVE-2026-43441 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.18 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 5.18

Fixed in

✓ 6.1.167 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.130 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.78 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.19 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.9 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-43441 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/30021e969d48e5819d5ae56936c2f34c0f7ce997
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/49dbfcb70eca5f6f9043594e1e323c74c39e3863
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/95faa1459b83fa544191e82ccc73856f03b7741f
Patch

6 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-43441

Severity High

CVSS score 7.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-05-08

Modified 2026-05-21

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-43441?

CVE-2026-43441 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.18 onward and has been patched in 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78 and others. CVE-2026-43441 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43441?

CVE-2026-43441 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-2026-43441?

Yes — CVE-2026-43441 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.18 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-43441 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2026-43441 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. View CWE-476 on MITRE CWE →