NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-43043
Published: May 2, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU128871
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-43043
CWE-ID: CWE-476
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vendor: Linux Foundation
Affected software:
Linux kernel
Linux kernel
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference in the crypto scatterwalk code when processing sendmsg() operations that chain a new scatter/gather list after an existing list is filled exactly to MAX_SGL_ENTS. A local user can send crafted messages through the AF_ALG interface to cause a denial of service.
The issue is triggered when a subsequent sendmsg() allocates a new scatter/gather list after the previous list's last data entry remains incorrectly marked as the end, leading to a kernel panic.
How to mitigate CVE-2026-43043
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Sources
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/00cbdec17c15d024a1c5002c7365df7624a18a75
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/44eafa39363e8d5dfda6a8c6eb6b45458ed4b948
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4b03ab0a587ec57eb7ddb5c115d84a42896f60f7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62397b493e14107ae82d8b80938f293d95425bcb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7195350fb78538c25cd790d703f8f2c73ee0d395
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7cdf2c6381b21ab5ccf8116750d5582fcd6c0f49
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f48d3dd99199180cf37d6253550c55e86372309a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9acceae7b004956851fd4268edf9f518a9bce04