Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-43051

HIGH · 8.1 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 →
86/100
Remediation priority · High
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: HID: wacom: fix out-of-bounds read in wacom_intuos_bt_irq The wacom_intuos_bt_irq() function processes Bluetooth HID reports without sufficient bounds checking. A maliciously crafted short report can trigger an out-of-bounds read when copying data into the wacom structure. Specifically, report 0x03 requires at least 22 bytes to safely read the processed data and battery status, while report 0x04 (which falls through to 0x03) requires 32 bytes. Add explicit length checks for these report IDs and log a warning if a short report is received.

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:>= 3.3, < 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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 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

5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.168, or 6.6.134 (depending on which major version branch you are on)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version range your current kernel falls into (>= 3.3, < 5.10.253; >= 5.11, < 5.15.203; >= 5.16, < 6.1.168; or >= 6.2, < 6.6.134)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to the first fixed release in your version branch: 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.168, or 6.6.134 respectively
  4. For systems running kernel < 5.10.253 but >= 3.3, upgrade to at least 5.10.253
  5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches or exceeds the appropriate fixed release
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding third-party kernel modules; ensure compatibility of custom drivers with the new kernel version before rebooting into production

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-43051 — 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-2026-43051 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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