CVE-2026-31521

Published Apr 22, 2026

Last updated 18 hours ago

CVSS medium 5.5

Overview

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: module: Fix kernel panic when a symbol st_shndx is out of bounds The module loader doesn't check for bounds of the ELF section index in simplify_symbols(): for (i = 1; i < symsec->sh_size / sizeof(Elf_Sym); i++) { const char *name = info->strtab + sym[i].st_name; switch (sym[i].st_shndx) { case SHN_COMMON: [...] default: /* Divert to percpu allocation if a percpu var. */ if (sym[i].st_shndx == info->index.pcpu) secbase = (unsigned long)mod_percpu(mod); else /** HERE --> **/ secbase = info->sechdrs[sym[i].st_shndx].sh_addr; sym[i].st_value += secbase; break; } } A symbol with an out-of-bounds st_shndx value, for example 0xffff (known as SHN_XINDEX or SHN_HIRESERVE), may cause a kernel panic: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ... RIP: 0010:simplify_symbols+0x2b2/0x480 ... Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception This can happen when module ELF is legitimately using SHN_XINDEX or when it is corrupted. Add a bounds check in simplify_symbols() to validate that st_shndx is within the valid range before using it. This issue was discovered due to a bug in llvm-objcopy, see relevant discussion for details [1]. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-modules/20251224005752.201911-1-ihor.solodrai@linux.dev/
Source
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD status
Analyzed
Products
linux_kernel

Risk scores

CVSS 3.1

Type
Primary
Base score
5.5
Impact score
3.6
Exploitability score
1.8
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Severity
MEDIUM

Weaknesses

nvd@nist.gov
CWE-787

Social media

Hype score
Not currently trending

Configurations

Related CVEs

  1. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rt2x00usb: fix devres lifetime USB drivers bind to USB interfaces and any device managed resources should have their lifetime tied to the interface rather than parent USB device. This avoids issues like memory leaks when drivers are unbound without their devices being physically disconnected (e.g. on probe deferral or configuration changes). Fix the USB anchor lifetime so that it is released on driver unbind.•CVE-2026-31672
  2. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm_user: fix info leak in build_report() struct xfrm_user_report is a __u8 proto field followed by a struct xfrm_selector which means there is three "empty" bytes of padding, but the padding is never zeroed before copying to userspace. Fix that up by zeroing the structure before setting individual member variables.•CVE-2026-31671
  3. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: rfkill: prevent unlimited numbers of rfkill events from being created Userspace can create an unlimited number of rfkill events if the system is so configured, while not consuming them from the rfkill file descriptor, causing a potential out of memory situation. Prevent this from bounding the number of pending rfkill events at a "large" number (i.e. 1000) to prevent abuses like this.•CVE-2026-31670
  4. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mptcp: fix slab-use-after-free in __inet_lookup_established The ehash table lookups are lockless and rely on SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU to guarantee socket memory stability during RCU read-side critical sections. Both tcp_prot and tcpv6_prot have their slab caches created with this flag via proto_register(). However, MPTCP's mptcp_subflow_init() copies tcpv6_prot into tcpv6_prot_override during inet_init() (fs_initcall, level 5), before inet6_init() (module_init/device_initcall, level 6) has called proto_register(&tcpv6_prot). At that point, tcpv6_prot.slab is still NULL, so tcpv6_prot_override.slab remains NULL permanently. This causes MPTCP v6 subflow child sockets to be allocated via kmalloc (falling into kmalloc-4k) instead of the TCPv6 slab cache. The kmalloc-4k cache lacks SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU, so when these sockets are freed without SOCK_RCU_FREE (which is cleared for child sockets by design), the memory can be immediately reused. Concurrent ehash lookups under rcu_read_lock can then access freed memory, triggering a slab-use-after-free in __inet_lookup_established. Fix this by splitting the IPv6-specific initialization out of mptcp_subflow_init() into a new mptcp_subflow_v6_init(), called from mptcp_proto_v6_init() before protocol registration. This ensures tcpv6_prot_override.slab correctly inherits the SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU slab cache.•CVE-2026-31669
  5. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: seg6: separate dst_cache for input and output paths in seg6 lwtunnel The seg6 lwtunnel uses a single dst_cache per encap route, shared between seg6_input_core() and seg6_output_core(). These two paths can perform the post-encap SID lookup in different routing contexts (e.g., ip rules matching on the ingress interface, or VRF table separation). Whichever path runs first populates the cache, and the other reuses it blindly, bypassing its own lookup. Fix this by splitting the cache into cache_input and cache_output, so each path maintains its own cached dst independently.•CVE-2026-31668

References

Sources include official advisories and independent security research.