Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-43041

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-01
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: net: qrtr: replace qrtr_tx_flow radix_tree with xarray to fix memory leak __radix_tree_create() allocates and links intermediate nodes into the tree one by one. If a subsequent allocation fails, the already-linked nodes remain in the tree with no corresponding leaf entry. These orphaned internal nodes are never reclaimed because radix_tree_for_each_slot() only visits slots containing leaf values. The radix_tree API is deprecated in favor of xarray. As suggested by Matthew Wilcox, migrate qrtr_tx_flow from radix_tree to xarray instead of fixing the radix_tree itself [1]. xarray properly handles cleanup of internal nodes — xa_destroy() frees all internal xarray nodes when the qrtr_node is released, preventing the leak. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/T/

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:>= 5.6, < 5.10.253>= 5.11, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.168>= 6.2, < 6.6.134>= 6.7, < 6.12.81>= 6.13, < 6.18.22>= 6.19, < 6.19.12= 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 5.10.253 / 5.15.203 / 6.1.168 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2535.15.2036.1.168
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.168, 6.6.134 or later stable release

  1. Obtain a Linux kernel version with the fix applied. Based on the affected version ranges, the following stable releases contain the fix: 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.168, or 6.6.134 (or any later stable release).
  2. Update your Linux kernel package through your distribution's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get upgrade, yum update, dnf update, or zypper patch).
  3. Reboot the system to load the new kernel.
  4. Verify the running kernel version with 'uname -r' to confirm the fix is applied.
  5. If using custom-built kernels, ensure the commit 0fda873092b541bb5a9b87d728a2429f863f8cfa is included in your kernel source and rebuild.
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce compatibility issues with custom modules or older userspace tools; ensure critical drivers and applications are compatible with the target kernel version

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-2026-43041 — 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-2026-43041 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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