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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-23085

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.249 / 5.15.199 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
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: irqchip/gic-v3-its: Avoid truncating memory addresses On 32-bit machines with CONFIG_ARM_LPAE, it is possible for lowmem allocations to be backed by addresses physical memory above the 32-bit address limit, as found while experimenting with larger VMSPLIT configurations. This caused the qemu virt model to crash in the GICv3 driver, which allocates the 'itt' object using GFP_KERNEL. Since all memory below the 4GB physical address limit is in ZONE_DMA in this configuration, kmalloc() defaults to higher addresses for ZONE_NORMAL, and the ITS driver stores the physical address in a 32-bit 'unsigned long' variable. Change the itt_addr variable to the correct phys_addr_t type instead, along with all other variables in this driver that hold a physical address. The gicv5 driver correctly uses u64 variables, while all other irqchip drivers don't call virt_to_phys or similar interfaces. It's expected that other device drivers have similar issues, but fixing this one is sufficient for booting a virtio based guest.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 3.19, < 5.10.249>= 5.11, < 5.15.199>= 5.16, < 6.1.162>= 6.2, < 6.6.122>= 6.7, < 6.12.68>= 6.13, < 6.18.8= 6.19

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 5.10.249 / 5.15.199 / 6.1.162 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2495.15.1996.1.162
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 5.10.249 or later (for 5.10.x branch), 5.15.199 or later (for 5.11-5.15.x branch), 6.1.162 or later (for 5.16-6.1.x branch), or 6.6.122 or later (for 6.2-6.6.x branch)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. Determine which branch of the affected versions your kernel falls into (3.19 to 5.10.x, 5.11 to 5.15.x, 5.16 to 6.1.x, or 6.2 to 6.6.x)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version at or above the fixed release for your branch: 5.10.249, 5.15.199, 6.1.162, or 6.6.122 respectively
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu-based systems: 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade' or install specific kernel package
  5. On RHEL/CentOS: 'sudo yum update kernel' or 'sudo dnf update kernel'
  6. On Fedora: 'sudo dnf update kernel'
  7. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  8. Verify the new kernel version with 'uname -r' after reboot
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require updating kernel modules or drivers; ensure compatible firmware and boot configuration. On production systems, test the new kernel in a staging environment first.

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 $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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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-2026-23085 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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