Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-43266

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.252 / 5.15.202 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: EFI/CPER: don't go past the ARM processor CPER record buffer There's a logic inside GHES/CPER to detect if the section_length is too small, but it doesn't detect if it is too big. Currently, if the firmware receives an ARM processor CPER record stating that a section length is big, kernel will blindly trust section_length, producing a very long dump. For instance, a 67 bytes record with ERR_INFO_NUM set 46198 and section length set to 854918320 would dump a lot of data going a way past the firmware memory-mapped area. Fix it by adding a logic to prevent it to go past the buffer if ERR_INFO_NUM is too big, making it report instead: [Hardware Error]: Hardware error from APEI Generic Hardware Error Source: 1 [Hardware Error]: event severity: recoverable [Hardware Error]: Error 0, type: recoverable [Hardware Error]: section_type: ARM processor error [Hardware Error]: MIDR: 0xff304b2f8476870a [Hardware Error]: section length: 854918320, CPER size: 67 [Hardware Error]: section length is too big [Hardware Error]: firmware-generated error record is incorrect [Hardware Error]: ERR_INFO_NUM is 46198 [ rjw: Subject and changelog tweaks ]

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:>= 4.13, < 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, < 6.19.6

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 5.10.252 / 5.15.202 / 6.1.165 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2525.15.2026.1.165
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 5.10.252 (or next stable in your branch: 5.15.202, 6.1.165, or 6.6.128)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Check which version range your current kernel falls into (>= 4.13, < 5.10.252; >= 5.11, < 5.15.202; >= 5.16, < 6.1.165; or >= 6.2, < 6.6.128)
  3. Update the Linux kernel package to the first fixed version in your branch: 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165, or 6.6.128 respectively
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the GHES/CPER code includes the section length validation
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching system utilities; ensure compatibility with userspace before upgrading

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-2026-43266 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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