Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-31430

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.135 / 6.12.82 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: X.509: Fix out-of-bounds access when parsing extensions Leo reports an out-of-bounds access when parsing a certificate with empty Basic Constraints or Key Usage extension because the first byte of the extension is read before checking its length. Fix it. The bug can be triggered by an unprivileged user by submitting a specially crafted certificate to the kernel through the keyrings(7) API. Leo has demonstrated this with a proof-of-concept program responsibly disclosed off-list.

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:>= 6.4, < 6.6.135>= 6.7, < 6.12.82>= 6.13, < 6.18.23>= 6.19, < 6.19.13= 7.0

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 6.6.135 / 6.12.82 / 6.18.23 or later
Fixed in 6.6.1356.12.826.18.23
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 6.6.135, 6.12.82, 6.18.23, or 6.19.13 (whichever is the next stable release in your current branch)

  1. 1. Identify your current kernel version by running: uname -r
  2. 2. Determine which version range your kernel falls into based on the affected versions listed
  3. 3. For Ubuntu/Debian systems: Run 'apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade' or install a newer HWE kernel, then reboot
  4. 4. For RHEL/CentOS systems: Run 'yum update' or 'dnf update' to install the latest kernel package, then reboot
  5. 5. For other distributions: Use your distribution's standard package manager to upgrade to the fixed kernel version
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the kernel version running 'uname -r' matches one of the fixed releases: 6.6.135, 6.12.82, 6.18.23, or 6.19.13
Caveat Kernel upgrades require system reboot; ensure compatibility with existing kernel modules and software stack before upgrading

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-31430 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2026-31430 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