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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-71231

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.72 / 6.18.11 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: iaa - Fix out-of-bounds index in find_empty_iaa_compression_mode The local variable 'i' is initialized with -EINVAL, but the for loop immediately overwrites it and -EINVAL is never returned. If no empty compression mode can be found, the function would return the out-of-bounds index IAA_COMP_MODES_MAX, which would cause an invalid array access in add_iaa_compression_mode(). Fix both issues by returning either a valid index or -EINVAL.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.8, < 6.12.72>= 6.13, < 6.18.11>= 6.19, < 6.19.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.12.72 / 6.18.11 / 6.19.1 or later
Fixed in 6.12.726.18.116.19.1
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 6.12.72+ or 6.18.11+ or 6.19+ (depending on branch)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which kernel branch you are running (6.8-6.12, 6.13-6.18, or 6.19+)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.12.72 or later if using the 6.8-6.12 branch
  4. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.18.11 or later if using the 6.13-6.18 branch
  5. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.19.1 or later if using the 6.19 branch
  6. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  7. Verify the kernel version after reboot using `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrade requires system reboot; may require updating out-of-tree kernel modules

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-71231 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data