Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-46254

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.75 / 6.18.14 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: AppArmor: Allow apparmor to handle unaligned dfa tables The dfa tables can originate from kernel or userspace and 8-byte alignment isn't always guaranteed and as such may trigger unaligned memory accesses on various architectures. Resulting in the following [   73.901376] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 341 at security/apparmor/match.c:316 aa_dfa_unpack+0x6cc/0x720 [   74.015867] Modules linked in: binfmt_misc evdev flash sg drm drm_panel_orientation_quirks backlight i2c_core configfs nfnetlink autofs4 ext4 crc16 mbcache jbd2 hid_generic usbhid sr_mod hid cdrom sd_mod ata_generic ohci_pci ehci_pci ehci_hcd ohci_hcd pata_ali libata sym53c8xx scsi_transport_spi tg3 scsi_mod usbcore libphy scsi_common mdio_bus usb_common [   74.428977] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 341 Comm: apparmor_parser Not tainted 6.18.0-rc6+ #9 NONE [   74.536543] Call Trace: [   74.568561] [<0000000000434c24>] dump_stack+0x8/0x18 [   74.633757] [<0000000000476438>] __warn+0xd8/0x100 [   74.696664] [<00000000004296d4>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x34/0x74 [   74.771006] [<00000000008db28c>] aa_dfa_unpack+0x6cc/0x720 [   74.843062] [<00000000008e643c>] unpack_pdb+0xbc/0x7e0 [   74.910545] [<00000000008e7740>] unpack_profile+0xbe0/0x1300 [   74.984888] [<00000000008e82e0>] aa_unpack+0xe0/0x6a0 [   75.051226] [<00000000008e3ec4>] aa_replace_profiles+0x64/0x1160 [   75.130144] [<00000000008d4d90>] policy_update+0xf0/0x280 [   75.201057] [<00000000008d4fc8>] profile_replace+0xa8/0x100 [   75.274258] [<0000000000766bd0>] vfs_write+0x90/0x420 [   75.340594] [<00000000007670cc>] ksys_write+0x4c/0xe0 [   75.406932] [<0000000000767174>] sys_write+0x14/0x40 [   75.472126] [<0000000000406174>] linux_sparc_syscall+0x34/0x44 [   75.548802] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [   75.609503] dfa blob stream 0xfff0000008926b96 not aligned. [   75.682695] Kernel unaligned access at TPC[8db2a8] aa_dfa_unpack+0x6e8/0x720 Work around it by using the get_unaligned_xx() helpers.

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:>= 4.11, < 6.12.75>= 6.13, < 6.18.14>= 6.19, < 6.19.4

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 / 6.18.14 / 6.19.4 or later
Fixed in 6.12.756.18.146.19.4
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 6.12.75, 6.18.14, or 6.19.4 (depending on which version branch you are on)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. Based on your current kernel branch, upgrade to the appropriate fixed version: for 6.12.x line upgrade to >=6.12.75, for 6.13.x-6.18.x upgrade to >=6.18.14, or for 6.19.x upgrade to >=6.19.4
  3. 3. Update the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-* for Debian/Ubuntu, or yum/dnf update kernel for RHEL/Fedora)
  4. 4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. 5. Verify the fix is applied by running 'uname -r' to confirm the new kernel version and checking 'dmesg' for any remaining AppArmor unaligned access warnings
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting services; ensure compatibility with existing system configurations 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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-46254 — 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-2026-46254 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data