Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-31636

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.18.23 / 6.19.13 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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: rxrpc: fix RESPONSE authenticator parser OOB read rxgk_verify_authenticator() copies auth_len bytes into a temporary buffer and then passes p + auth_len as the parser limit to rxgk_do_verify_authenticator(). Since p is a __be32 *, that inflates the parser end pointer by a factor of four and lets malformed RESPONSE authenticators read past the kmalloc() buffer. Decoded from the original latest-net reproduction logs with scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in rxgk_verify_response() Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl() [lib/dump_stack.c:123] print_report() [mm/kasan/report.c:379 mm/kasan/report.c:482] kasan_report() [mm/kasan/report.c:597] rxgk_verify_response() [net/rxrpc/rxgk.c:1103 net/rxrpc/rxgk.c:1167 net/rxrpc/rxgk.c:1274] rxrpc_process_connection() [net/rxrpc/conn_event.c:266 net/rxrpc/conn_event.c:364 net/rxrpc/conn_event.c:386] process_one_work() [kernel/workqueue.c:3281] worker_thread() [kernel/workqueue.c:3353 kernel/workqueue.c:3440] kthread() [kernel/kthread.c:436] ret_from_fork() [arch/x86/kernel/process.c:164] Allocated by task 54: rxgk_verify_response() [include/linux/slab.h:954 net/rxrpc/rxgk.c:1155 net/rxrpc/rxgk.c:1274] rxrpc_process_connection() [net/rxrpc/conn_event.c:266 net/rxrpc/conn_event.c:364 net/rxrpc/conn_event.c:386] Convert the byte count to __be32 units before constructing the parser limit.

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:>= 6.16.1, < 6.18.23>= 6.19, < 6.19.13= 6.16= 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 6.18.23 / 6.19.13 or later
Fixed in 6.18.236.19.13
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.18.23 (for 6.16.x-6.18.x) or 6.19.13 (for 6.19.x) or later stable release

  1. Identify your current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. For kernels >= 6.16.1 and < 6.18.23: upgrade to kernel version 6.18.23 or later
  3. For kernels >= 6.19 and < 6.19.13: upgrade to kernel version 6.19.13 or later
  4. For kernel 6.16 or 7.0: upgrade to a version that includes the fix (6.18.23+ or 6.19.13+)
  5. After upgrade, verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming rxgk.c contains the patch
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; test in staging environment before production deployment

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 $3,550. 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-2026-31636 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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