Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-43229

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.75 / 6.18.16 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: media: chips-media: wave5: Fix device cleanup order to prevent kernel panic Move video device unregistration to the beginning of the remove function to ensure all video operations are stopped before cleaning up the worker thread and disabling PM runtime. This prevents hardware register access after the device has been powered down. In polling mode, the hrtimer periodically triggers wave5_vpu_timer_callback() which queues work to the kthread worker. The worker executes wave5_vpu_irq_work_fn() which reads hardware registers via wave5_vdi_read_register(). The original cleanup order disabled PM runtime and powered down hardware before unregistering video devices. When autosuspend triggers and powers off the hardware, the video devices are still registered and the worker thread can still be triggered by the hrtimer, causing it to attempt reading registers from powered-off hardware. This results in a bus error (synchronous external abort) and kernel panic. This causes random kernel panics during encoding operations: Internal error: synchronous external abort: 0000000096000010 [#1] PREEMPT SMP Modules linked in: wave5 rpmsg_ctrl rpmsg_char ... CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1520 Comm: vpu_irq_thread Tainted: G M W pc : wave5_vdi_read_register+0x10/0x38 [wave5] lr : wave5_vpu_irq_work_fn+0x28/0x60 [wave5] Call trace: wave5_vdi_read_register+0x10/0x38 [wave5] kthread_worker_fn+0xd8/0x238 kthread+0x104/0x120 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Code: aa1e03e9 d503201f f9416800 8b214000 (b9400000) ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Kernel panic - not syncing: synchronous external abort: Fatal exception

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 6.8, < 6.12.75>= 6.13, < 6.18.16>= 6.19, < 6.19.6

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 6.12.75 / 6.18.16 / 6.19.6 or later
Fixed in 6.12.756.18.166.19.6
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Kernel 6.19.6 or later (or 6.12.75 / 6.18.16 depending on your stable branch)

  1. Identify your current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Check if your distribution offers a newer kernel package that includes the fix (6.12.75, 6.18.16, or 6.19.6 or later)
  3. If using a distribution kernel, upgrade your distribution to a version that ships with a fixed kernel
  4. If running a custom or mainline kernel, download and install kernel 6.19.6 or later from https://www.kernel.org/
  5. Reboot into the new kernel to apply the fix
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the wave5 driver module loads without issues
Caveat Major kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree drivers or cause compatibility issues with existing user-space tools; verify application compatibility 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 $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-2026-43229 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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