NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-43271

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Main Vulnerability Database Vulnerabilities #VU130430

NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-43271

Published: May 7, 2026


Vulnerability identifier: #VU130430
CSH Severity: Medium
CVSS v4: 8.2 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-43271
CWE-ID: CWE-476
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability: No public exploit available

Vulnerability details

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service.

The vulnerability exists due to a null pointer dereference in process_metadata_update() when handling a METADATA_UPDATED message from a remote node during MD array startup. A remote attacker can send a crafted metadata update message to cause a denial of service.

The issue can be triggered during a race condition window before the main MD thread is initialized.


Affected software

Linux kernel
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15
SUSE Linux Micro
SUSE Linux Micro Extras
Public Cloud Module
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching
SUSE Real Time Module
Legacy Module
Development Tools Module
Basesystem Module
Ubuntu
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_20-debugsource
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_7_75-rt
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_7_75-rt-debuginfo
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default-debuginfo
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_21-debugsource
kernel-default-devel-debuginfo
kernel-default
kernel-64kb
kernel-64kb-debugsource
kernel-64kb-devel
kernel-obs-build
kernel-syms
kernel-default-devel
kernel-default-debugsource
kernel-obs-build-debugsource
kernel-rt-livepatch
kernel-kvmsmall-debuginfo
kernel-kvmsmall-debugsource
kernel-default-debuginfo
kernel-default-livepatch
kernel-source
kernel-macros
kernel-devel
kernel-kvmsmall
kernel-source-rt
kernel-devel-rt
kernel-rt
kernel-rt-debuginfo
kernel-rt-debugsource
kernel-default-base
ocfs2-kmp-rt
gfs2-kmp-rt-debuginfo
dlm-kmp-rt
kernel-rt-devel
cluster-md-kmp-rt
kernel-rt-devel-debuginfo
kernel-syms-rt
gfs2-kmp-rt
dlm-kmp-rt-debuginfo
ocfs2-kmp-rt-debuginfo
cluster-md-kmp-rt-debuginfo
cluster-md-kmp-default
kernel-default-livepatch-devel
kernel-azure
kernel-azure-devel
kernel-azure-debugsource
kernel-azure-debuginfo
kernel-azure-devel-debuginfo
kernel-default-extra-debuginfo
kernel-default-extra
gfs2-kmp-default
ocfs2-kmp-default
dlm-kmp-default-debuginfo
gfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo
dlm-kmp-default
cluster-md-kmp-default-debuginfo
kernel-zfcpdump
kernel-zfcpdump-debugsource
kernel-zfcpdump-debuginfo
ocfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo
reiserfs-kmp-default-debuginfo
reiserfs-kmp-default
kernel-docs
kernel-64kb-debuginfo
kernel-64kb-devel-debuginfo
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fips (Ubuntu package)
linux-hwe-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi-realtime (Ubuntu package)

How to mitigate CVE-2026-43271

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_20-debugsource - update to 1-150700.1.3.1
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_7_75-rt - update to 1-150700.1.3.1
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_7_75-rt-debuginfo - update to 1-150700.1.3.1
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default - update to 1-150700.15.3.1
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default-debuginfo - update to 1-150700.15.3.1
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_21-debugsource - update to 1-150700.15.3.1
kernel-default-devel-debuginfo - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-debugsource - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-devel - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-obs-build - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-syms - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-devel - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-debugsource - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-obs-build-debugsource - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-rt-livepatch - update to 6.4.0-52.1
kernel-kvmsmall-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-52.1
kernel-kvmsmall-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-52.1
kernel-default-debuginfo - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-livepatch - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-source - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-macros - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-devel - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-kvmsmall - update to 6.4.0-52.1
kernel-source-rt - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-devel-rt - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-rt - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-rt-debuginfo - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-rt-debugsource - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1, 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-default-base - addressed in versions 6.4.0-52.1.21.35, 6.4.0-52.1.21.36, 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1.150700.17.45.1
ocfs2-kmp-rt - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
gfs2-kmp-rt-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
dlm-kmp-rt - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-rt-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
cluster-md-kmp-rt - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-rt-devel-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
kernel-syms-rt - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
gfs2-kmp-rt - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
dlm-kmp-rt-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
ocfs2-kmp-rt-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
cluster-md-kmp-rt-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1
cluster-md-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-livepatch-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-devel-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-extra-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-extra - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
gfs2-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
ocfs2-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
dlm-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
gfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
dlm-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
cluster-md-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-zfcpdump - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-zfcpdump-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-zfcpdump-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
ocfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
reiserfs-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
reiserfs-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-docs - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-devel-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
linux (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-134.134, 6.8.0-1057.58~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1058.61~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1058.61+fips1, 6.8.0-1060.61, 6.8.0-1060.63~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1060.63+fips1, 6.8.0-1063.69, 6.8.0-1063.69+fips1, 6.8.1-1055.56~22.04.1, 6.8.1-1055.56
linux-azure-fips (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-134.134+fips1, 6.8.0-1062.69+fips1
linux-hwe-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.1
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1029.30
linux-aws-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1045.48, 6.8.0-1057.58~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1058.61.1, 6.8.0-1058.64, 6.8.0-1060.61~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1060.63~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1063.69~22.04.1
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1060.64
linux-azure-fde-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1062.69~22.04.1
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1062.69
linux-azure (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1063.71~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1063.71
linux-raspi-realtime (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-2049.50

External References

Related Security Bulletins