Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-31480

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.203 / 6.1.168 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: tracing: Fix potential deadlock in cpu hotplug with osnoise The following sequence may leads deadlock in cpu hotplug: task1 task2 task3 ----- ----- ----- mutex_lock(&interface_lock) [CPU GOING OFFLINE] cpus_write_lock(); osnoise_cpu_die(); kthread_stop(task3); wait_for_completion(); osnoise_sleep(); mutex_lock(&interface_lock); cpus_read_lock(); [DEAD LOCK] Fix by swap the order of cpus_read_lock() and mutex_lock(&interface_lock).

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-667

Shared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.

General guidance for the improper locking 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:>= 5.14.1, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.168>= 6.2, < 6.6.131>= 6.7, < 6.12.80>= 6.13, < 6.18.21>= 6.19, < 6.19.11= 5.14= 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
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 5.15.203 / 6.1.168 / 6.6.131 or later
Fixed in 5.15.2036.1.1686.6.131
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 5.15.203, 6.1.168, 6.6.131, or 6.12.80 (or later stable release) depending on your distribution's available branches

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Check which affected version range your current kernel falls into (5.14.1 to 5.15.202, 5.16 to 6.1.167, 6.2 to 6.6.130, or 6.7 to 6.12.79)
  3. Obtain a fixed kernel package from your distribution's stable repositories or kernel.org
  4. Upgrade the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., 'apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version>' for Debian/Ubuntu, or 'yum/dnf update kernel' for RHEL/Fedora)
  5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r' and confirm it is one of the fixed releases: 5.15.203, 6.1.168, 6.6.131, or 6.12.80 or later
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboots and could have compatibility implications with custom modules or specific hardware drivers; ensure backups and test in staging if possible

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-31480 — 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-2026-31480 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
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