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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-43449

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.15 / 4.20 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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: nvme-pci: Fix slab-out-of-bounds in nvme_dbbuf_set dev->online_queues is a count incremented in nvme_init_queue. Thus, valid indices are 0 through dev->online_queues − 1. This patch fixes the loop condition to ensure the index stays within the valid range. Index 0 is excluded because it is the admin queue. KASAN splat: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in nvme_dbbuf_free drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:377 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in nvme_dbbuf_set+0x39c/0x400 drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:404 Read of size 2 at addr ffff88800592a574 by task kworker/u8:5/74 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 74 Comm: kworker/u8:5 Not tainted 6.19.0-dirty #10 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Workqueue: nvme-reset-wq nvme_reset_work Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0xea/0x150 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xce/0x5d0 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0xdc/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:595 __asan_report_load2_noabort+0x18/0x20 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:379 nvme_dbbuf_free drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:377 [inline] nvme_dbbuf_set+0x39c/0x400 drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:404 nvme_reset_work+0x36b/0x8c0 drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:3252 process_one_work+0x956/0x1aa0 kernel/workqueue.c:3257 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3340 [inline] worker_thread+0x65c/0xe60 kernel/workqueue.c:3421 kthread+0x41a/0x930 kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork+0x6f8/0x8c0 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:246 </TASK> Allocated by task 34 on cpu 1 at 4.241550s: kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x60 mm/kasan/common.c:57 kasan_save_track+0x1c/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:78 kasan_save_alloc_info+0x3c/0x50 mm/kasan/generic.c:570 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:398 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0xb5/0xc0 mm/kasan/common.c:415 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:263 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:5657 [inline] __kmalloc_node_noprof+0x2bf/0x8d0 mm/slub.c:5663 kmalloc_array_node_noprof include/linux/slab.h:1075 [inline] nvme_pci_alloc_dev drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:3479 [inline] nvme_probe+0x2f1/0x1820 drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:3534 local_pci_probe+0xef/0x1c0 drivers/pci/pci-driver.c:324 pci_call_probe drivers/pci/pci-driver.c:392 [inline] __pci_device_probe drivers/pci/pci-driver.c:417 [inline] pci_device_probe+0x743/0x920 drivers/pci/pci-driver.c:451 call_driver_probe drivers/base/dd.c:583 [inline] really_probe+0x29b/0xb70 drivers/base/dd.c:661 __driver_probe_device+0x3b0/0x4a0 drivers/base/dd.c:803 driver_probe_device+0x56/0x1f0 drivers/base/dd.c:833 __driver_attach_async_helper+0x155/0x340 drivers/base/dd.c:1159 async_run_entry_fn+0xa6/0x4b0 kernel/async.c:129 process_one_work+0x956/0x1aa0 kernel/workqueue.c:3257 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3340 [inline] worker_thread+0x65c/0xe60 kernel/workqueue.c:3421 kthread+0x41a/0x930 kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork+0x6f8/0x8c0 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:246 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff88800592a000 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-2k of size 2048 The buggy address is located 244 bytes to the right of allocated 1152-byte region [ffff88800592a000, ffff88800592a480) The buggy address belongs to the physical page: page: refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x5928 head: order:3 mapcount:0 entire_mapcount:0 nr_pages_mapped:0 pincount:0 anon flags: 0xfffffc0000040(head|node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x1fffff) page_type: f5(slab) raw: 000fffffc0000040 ffff888001042000 0000000000000000 dead000000000001 raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000080008 00000000f5000000 0000000000000000 head: 000fffffc0000040 ffff888001042000 00000 ---truncated---

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:>= 4.14.210, < 4.15>= 4.19.161, < 4.20>= 5.4.81, < 5.5>= 5.9.12, < 5.10>= 5.10.1, < 5.10.253>= 5.11, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.167>= 6.2, < 6.6.130>= 6.7, < 6.12.78>= 6.13, < 6.18.19>= 6.19, < 6.19.9= 5.10

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 4.15 / 4.20 / 5.5 or later
Fixed in 4.154.205.5
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 4.15+ (for 4.14.x), 4.20+ (for 4.19.x), 5.5+ (for 5.4.x), or 5.10+ (for 5.9.x)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine which version branch your current kernel belongs to (4.14.x, 4.19.x, 5.4.x, or 5.9.x)
  3. For 4.14.x branch: upgrade to kernel 4.15 or later
  4. For 4.19.x branch: upgrade to kernel 4.20 or later
  5. For 5.4.x branch: upgrade to kernel 5.5 or later
  6. For 5.9.x branch: upgrade to kernel 5.10 or later
  7. Reboot the system to apply the new kernel
  8. Verify the fix by checking the kernel version and ensuring nvme-pci operations work correctly
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching system utilities and drivers; ensure compatibility with user-space tools and any out-of-tree kernel modules

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

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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-2026-43449 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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