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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-31551

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.203 / 6.1.167 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: wifi: mac80211: Fix static_branch_dec() underflow for aql_disable. syzbot reported static_branch_dec() underflow in aql_enable_write(). [0] The problem is that aql_enable_write() does not serialise concurrent write()s to the debugfs. aql_enable_write() checks static_key_false(&aql_disable.key) and later calls static_branch_inc() or static_branch_dec(), but the state may change between the two calls. aql_disable does not need to track inc/dec. Let's use static_branch_enable() and static_branch_disable(). [0]: val == 0 WARNING: kernel/jump_label.c:311 at __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked.part.0+0x107/0x120 kernel/jump_label.c:311, CPU#0: syz.1.3155/20288 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 20288 Comm: syz.1.3155 Tainted: G U L syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full) Tainted: [U]=USER, [L]=SOFTLOCKUP Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/24/2026 RIP: 0010:__static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked.part.0+0x107/0x120 kernel/jump_label.c:311 Code: f2 c9 ff 5b 5d c3 cc cc cc cc e8 54 f2 c9 ff 48 89 df e8 ac f9 ff ff eb ad e8 45 f2 c9 ff 90 0f 0b 90 eb a2 e8 3a f2 c9 ff 90 <0f> 0b 90 eb 97 48 89 df e8 5c 4b 33 00 e9 36 ff ff ff 0f 1f 80 00 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000b9f7c10 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffffff9b3e5d40 RCX: ffffffff823c57b4 RDX: ffff8880285a0000 RSI: ffffffff823c5846 RDI: ffff8880285a0000 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 000000000000000a R13: 1ffff9200173ef88 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: ffffc9000b9f7e98 FS: 00007f530dd726c0(0000) GS:ffff8881245e3000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000200000001140 CR3: 000000007cc4a000 CR4: 00000000003526f0 Call Trace: <TASK> __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked kernel/jump_label.c:297 [inline] __static_key_slow_dec kernel/jump_label.c:321 [inline] static_key_slow_dec+0x7c/0xc0 kernel/jump_label.c:336 aql_enable_write+0x2b2/0x310 net/mac80211/debugfs.c:343 short_proxy_write+0x133/0x1a0 fs/debugfs/file.c:383 vfs_write+0x2aa/0x1070 fs/read_write.c:684 ksys_pwrite64 fs/read_write.c:793 [inline] __do_sys_pwrite64 fs/read_write.c:801 [inline] __se_sys_pwrite64 fs/read_write.c:798 [inline] __x64_sys_pwrite64+0x1eb/0x250 fs/read_write.c:798 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xc9/0xf80 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f530cf9aeb9 Code: ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 e8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007f530dd72028 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000012 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f530d215fa0 RCX: 00007f530cf9aeb9 RDX: 0000000000000003 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000010 RBP: 00007f530d008c1f R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 4200000000000005 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 00007f530d216038 R14: 00007f530d215fa0 R15: 00007ffde89fb978 </TASK>

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:>= 5.12.1, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.167>= 6.2, < 6.6.130>= 6.7, < 6.12.78>= 6.13, < 6.18.20>= 6.19, < 6.19.10= 5.12= 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 / 6.1.167 / 6.6.130 or later
Fixed in 5.15.2036.1.1676.6.130
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, or 6.12.78 (or later stable) depending on your distribution's kernel base

  1. 1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check if the version falls within any affected range: 5.12.1 to 5.15.202, 5.16 to 6.1.166, 6.2 to 6.6.129, or 6.7 to 6.12.77
  3. 3. If affected, update the kernel package to a fixed version: upgrade to 5.15.203 or later, 6.1.167 or later, 6.6.130 or later, or 6.12.78 or later
  4. 4. On Debian/Ubuntu: run `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade linux-image-generic`
  5. 5. On RHEL/CentOS: run `sudo yum update kernel`
  6. 6. On Alpine: run `apk update && apk upgrade linux-lts` or similar
  7. 7. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or older userspace tools; 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

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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-2026-31551 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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