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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-31671

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.253 / 5.15.203 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: xfrm_user: fix info leak in build_report() struct xfrm_user_report is a __u8 proto field followed by a struct xfrm_selector which means there is three "empty" bytes of padding, but the padding is never zeroed before copying to userspace. Fix that up by zeroing the structure before setting individual member variables.

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-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak 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:>= 2.6.19.1, < 5.10.253>= 5.11, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.169>= 6.2, < 6.6.135>= 6.7, < 6.12.82>= 6.13, < 6.18.23>= 6.19, < 6.19.13= 2.6.19= 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 5.10.253 / 5.15.203 / 6.1.169 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2535.15.2036.1.169
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 5.10.253 (for 5.10.x), >= 5.15.203 (for 5.15.x), >= 6.1.169 (for 6.1.x), or >= 6.6.135 (for 6.6.x)

  1. Check current kernel version with 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. Identify the appropriate upgrade path based on your current kernel branch (5.10.x, 5.15.x, 6.1.x, or 6.6.x)
  3. For RHEL/CentOS/Fedora: run 'sudo dnf update kernel' or 'sudo yum update kernel'
  4. For Debian/Ubuntu: run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade linux-image-generic'
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel with 'sudo reboot'
  6. Verify the new kernel version is loaded with 'uname -r' and confirm it is >= the fixed version for your branch
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility issues with proprietary kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; test in staging 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-2026-31671 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