What is CVE-2026-43442?

CVE-2026-43442 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.19 onward and patched in 6.19.9 and 7.0. CVE-2026-43442 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43442?

CVE-2026-43442 has a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-43442?

Yes, CVE-2026-43442 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.19.9 and 7.0. If you are running Linux kernel 6.19 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-43442 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-43442 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-43442

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring: fix physical SQE bounds check for SQE_MIXED 128-byte ops When IORING_SETUP_SQE_MIXED is used without IORING_SETUP_NO_SQARRAY, the boundary check for 128-byte SQE operations in io_init_req() validated the logical SQ head position rather than the physical SQE index. The existing check: !(ctx->cached_sq_head & (ctx->sq_entries - 1)) ensures the logical position isn't at the end of the ring, which is correct for NO_SQARRAY rings where physical == logical. However, when sq_array is present, an unprivileged user can remap any logical position to an arbitrary physical index via sq_array. Setting sq_array[N] = sq_entries - 1 places a 128-byte operation at the last physical SQE slot, causing the 128-byte memcpy in io_uring_cmd_sqe_copy() to read 64 bytes past the end of the SQE array. Replace the cached_sq_head alignment check with a direct validation of the physical SQE index, which correctly handles both sq_array and NO_SQARRAY cases.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-05-08

Last modified 2026-05-21

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.1

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.19 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.19.9, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.19

Fixed in

✓ 6.19.9 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-43442 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/1f794f9bed3e5cf7250a3b4daf112a72ed1513e9
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6f02c6b196036dbb6defb4647d8707d29b7fe95b
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-43442

Severity High

CVSS score 7.1 / 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-2026-43442?

CVE-2026-43442 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.19 onward and has been patched in 6.19.9 and 7.0. CVE-2026-43442 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-43442?

CVE-2026-43442 has a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-43442?

Yes — CVE-2026-43442 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.19.9 and 7.0. If you are running Linux kernel 6.19 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-43442 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2026-43442 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.