CVE-2026-43331

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments() The load_segments() function changes segment registers, invalidating GS base (which KCOV relies on for per-cpu data). When CONFIG_KCOV is enabled, any subsequent instrumented C code call (e.g. native_gdt_invalidate()) begins crashing the kernel in an endless loop. To reproduce the problem, it's sufficient to do kexec on a KCOV-instrumented kernel: $ kexec -l /boot/otherKernel $ kexec -e The real-world context for this problem is enabling crash dump collection in syzkaller. For this, the tool loads a panic kernel before fuzzing and then calls makedumpfile after the panic. This workflow requires both CONFIG_KEXEC and CONFIG_KCOV to be enabled simultaneously. Adding safeguards directly to the KCOV fast-path (__sanitizer_cov_trace_pc()) is also undesirable as it would introduce an extra performance overhead. Disabling instrumentation for the individual functions would be too fragile, so disable KCOV instrumentation for the entire machine_kexec_64.c and physaddr.c. If coverage-guided fuzzing ever needs these components in the future, other approaches should be considered. The problem is not relevant for 32 bit kernels as CONFIG_KCOV is not supported there. [ bp: Space out comment for better readability. ]

CVSS Details

CVSS Score

5.5

Severity

MEDIUM

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Configurations (Affected Products)

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* - VULNERABLE

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* - VULNERABLE

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* - VULNERABLE

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* - VULNERABLE

Linux Kernel (提交 1e3e98596c2769721ade0418434852fb3af4849a 修复前的版本)

PoC / Exploit Code

⚠ For Security Research Only

The following code is for security research and authorized testing only.

python

#!/bin/bash
# PoC to trigger kernel crash in KCOV instrumented kernel
# Requires CONFIG_KEXEC and CONFIG_KCOV enabled

# Load a kernel image
kexec -l /boot/vmlinuz-$(uname -r)

# Execute the loaded kernel, triggering load_segments() -> crash
kexec -e

References

[1] CVE.org https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43331
[2] NVD NIST https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43331
[3] CVE Details https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2026-43331/
[4] VulDB https://vuldb.com/cve/CVE-2026-43331
[5] https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e3e98596c2769721ade0418434852fb3af4849a
[6] https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/917e3ad3321e75ca0223d5ccf26ceda116aa51e1
[7] https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de05c66fab8847237a9ca216934e56d3ee837f08

Raw JSON Data

JSON

{"cve": {"id": "CVE-2026-43331", "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "published": "2026-05-08T14:16:42.763", "lastModified": "2026-05-18T12:39:01.053", "vulnStatus": "Analyzed", "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nx86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments()\n\nThe load_segments() function changes segment registers, invalidating GS base\n(which KCOV relies on for per-cpu data). When CONFIG_KCOV is enabled, any\nsubsequent instrumented C code call (e.g. native_gdt_invalidate()) begins\ncrashing the kernel in an endless loop.\n\nTo reproduce the problem, it's sufficient to do kexec on a KCOV-instrumented\nkernel:\n\n $ kexec -l /boot/otherKernel\n $ kexec -e\n\nThe real-world context for this problem is enabling crash dump collection in\nsyzkaller. For this, the tool loads a panic kernel before fuzzing and then\ncalls makedumpfile after the panic. This workflow requires both CONFIG_KEXEC\nand CONFIG_KCOV to be enabled simultaneously.\n\nAdding safeguards directly to the KCOV fast-path (__sanitizer_cov_trace_pc())\nis also undesirable as it would introduce an extra performance overhead.\n\nDisabling instrumentation for the individual functions would be too fragile,\nso disable KCOV instrumentation for the entire machine_kexec_64.c and\nphysaddr.c. If coverage-guided fuzzing ever needs these components in the\nfuture, other approaches should be considered.\n\nThe problem is not relevant for 32 bit kernels as CONFIG_KCOV is not supported\nthere.\n\n [ bp: Space out comment for better readability. ]"}], "metrics": {"cvssMetricV31": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H", "baseScore": 5.5, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "attackVector": "LOCAL", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "privilegesRequired": "LOW", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "NONE", "integrityImpact": "NONE", "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"}, "exploitabilityScore": 1.8, "impactScore": 3.6}]}, "weaknesses": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "NVD-CWE-noinfo"}]}], "configurations": [{"nodes": [{"operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [{"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.6", "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.22", "matchCriteriaId": "CB33D19D-30CB-4E4C-9018-2230BD327607"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.19", "versionEndExcluding": "6.19.12", "matchCriteriaId": "0A2B9540-02D5-41B4-B16A-82AF66FD4F36"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "F253B622-8837-4245-BCE5-A7BF8FC76A16"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "4AE85AD8-4641-4E7C-A2F4-305E2CD9EE64"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "F666C8D8-6538-46D4-B318-87610DE64C34"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "02259FDA-961B-47BC-AE7F-93D7EC6E90C2"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "58A9FEFF-C040-420D-8F0A-BFDAAA1DF258"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "1D2315C0-D46F-4F85-9754-F9E5E11374A6"}]}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e3e98596c2769721ade0418434852fb3af4849a", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/917e3ad3321e75ca0223d5ccf26ceda116aa51e1", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de05c66fab8847237a9ca216934e56d3ee837f08", "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "tags": ["Patch"]}]}}