Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-43382

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.5 / 5.10.253 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: batman-adv: Avoid double-rtnl_lock ELP metric worker batadv_v_elp_get_throughput() might be called when the RTNL lock is already held. This could be problematic when the work queue item is cancelled via cancel_delayed_work_sync() in batadv_v_elp_iface_disable(). In this case, an rtnl_lock() would cause a deadlock. To avoid this, rtnl_trylock() was used in this function to skip the retrieval of the ethtool information in case the RTNL lock was already held. But for cfg80211 interfaces, batadv_get_real_netdev() was called - which also uses rtnl_lock(). The approach for __ethtool_get_link_ksettings() must also be used instead and the lockless version __batadv_get_real_netdev() has to be called.

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-667

Shared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.

General guidance for the improper locking 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:>= 5.4.291, < 5.5>= 5.10.235, < 5.10.253>= 5.15.179, < 5.15.203>= 6.1.129, < 6.1.167>= 6.6.79, < 6.6.130>= 6.12.16, < 6.12.78>= 6.13.4, < 6.14>= 6.14.1, < 6.18.19>= 6.19, < 6.19.9= 6.14= 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 5.5 / 5.10.253 / 5.15.203 or later
Fixed in 5.55.10.2535.15.203
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 5.5+ (5.4.x branch), 5.10.253+ (5.10.x branch), 5.15.203+ (5.15.x branch), or 6.1.167+ (6.1.x branch)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which version range your current kernel falls into from the affected versions: 5.4.291-5.4.x, 5.10.235-5.10.252, 5.15.179-5.15.202, or 6.1.129-6.1.166
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to the first fixed version in your respective branch: 5.5 or later (for 5.4.x), 5.10.253 or later (for 5.10.x), 5.15.203 or later (for 5.15.x), or 6.1.167 or later (for 6.1.x)
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version with 'uname -r' and confirming the batman-adv module loads correctly
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply - ensure driver compatibility and backup critical data before rebooting

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-2026-43382 — 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-2026-43382 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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