CVE-2026-43501
CriticalIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: rpl: reserve mac_len headroom when recompressed SRH grows ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv() decompresses an RFC 6554 Source Routing Header, swaps the next segment into ipv6_hdr->daddr, recompresses, then pulls the old header and pushes the new one plus the IPv6 header back. The recompressed header can be larger than the received one when the swap reduces the common-prefix length the segments share with daddr (CmprI=0, CmprE>0, seg[0][0] != daddr[0] gives the maximum +8 bytes). pskb_expand_head() was gated on segments_left == 0, so on earlier segments the push consumed unchecked headroom. Once skb_push() leaves fewer than skb->mac_len bytes in front of data, skb_mac_header_rebuild()'s call to: skb_set_mac_header(skb, -skb->mac_len); will store (data - head) - mac_len into the u16 mac_header field, which wraps to ~65530, and the following memmove() writes mac_len bytes ~64KiB past skb->head. A single AF_INET6/SOCK_RAW/IPV6_HDRINCL packet over lo with a two segment type-3 SRH (CmprI=0, CmprE=15) reaches headroom 8 after one pass; KASAN reports a 14-byte OOB write in ipv6_rthdr_rcv. Fix this by expanding the head whenever the remaining room is less than the push size plus mac_len, and request that much extra so the rebuilt MAC header fits afterwards.
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
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
5.7
and later are affected. Fixed in
5.10.258,
5.15.209,
6.1.175,
6.6.140,
6.12.86,
6.18.27,
7.0.4,
7.1-rc2
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-43501 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/0a9e8053f1f8a8e1bfc1dd61ffe67be6c1180402
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4babc2d9fda2df43823b85d08a0180b68f1b0854
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7398ebefbfd4f8a31d4f665a4213302fa995494b
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-43501?
CVE-2026-43501 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.7 onward and has been patched in 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175 and others. CVE-2026-43501 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-2026-43501?
CVE-2026-43501 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-2026-43501?
Yes — CVE-2026-43501 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-43501 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2026-43501 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.