Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2026-43218
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: i2c/tw9903: Fix potential memory leak in tw9903_probe() In one of the error paths in tw9903_probe(), the memory allocated in v4l2_ctrl_handler_init() and v4l2_ctrl_new_std() is not freed. Fix that by calling v4l2_ctrl_handler_free() on the handler in that error path.
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 analysisAllocated 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
>= 3.10, < 5.10.252>= 5.11, < 5.15.202>= 5.16, < 6.1.165>= 6.2, < 6.6.128>= 6.7, < 6.12.75>= 6.13, < 6.18.16>= 6.19, < 6.19.6CVSS 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 · scoped5.10.2525.15.2026.1.165
Linux kernel 5.10.252 / 5.15.202 / 6.1.165 / 6.6.128 or later (depending on your kernel branch)
- 1. Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- 2. Check which stable kernel series applies to your system based on the version ranges: for 5.10.x series upgrade to >=5.10.252, for 5.11-5.15 upgrade to >=5.15.202, for 5.16-6.1 upgrade to >=6.1.165, for 6.2-6.6 upgrade to >=6.6.128
- 3. Update the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade, yum update, dnf upgrade, or pacman -Syu)
- 4. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
- 5. Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r'
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-43218 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-43218 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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