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CVE-2026-31429

5.5 · MEDIUM
Published Apr 20, 2026 linux CWE-401 EPSS 0.26% (17th pctl)

Overview

CVE-2026-31429 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting linux linux_kernel. It was published on April 20, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

Technical Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: skb: fix cross-cache free of KFENCE-allocated skb head

SKB_SMALL_HEAD_CACHE_SIZE is intentionally set to a non-power-of-2

value (e.g. 704 on x86_64) to avoid collisions with generic kmalloc

bucket sizes. This ensures that skb_kfree_head() can reliably use

skb_end_offset to distinguish skb heads allocated from

skb_small_head_cache vs. generic kmalloc caches.

However, when KFENCE is enabled, kfence_ksize() returns the exact

requested allocation size instead of the slab bucket size. If a caller

(e.g. bpf_test_init) allocates skb head data via kzalloc() and the

requested size happens to equal SKB_SMALL_HEAD_CACHE_SIZE, then

slab_build_skb() -> ksize() returns that exact value. After subtracting

skb_shared_info overhead, skb_end_offset ends up matching

SKB_SMALL_HEAD_HEADROOM, causing skb_kfree_head() to incorrectly free

the object to skb_small_head_cache instead of back to the original

kmalloc cache, resulting in a

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from linux. Update linux_kernel to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

Affected Products

Vendor Product Versions Status
linux linux_kernel >= 6.3, < 6.6.136 Affected

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-31429?

CVE-2026-31429 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting linux linux_kernel. It was published on April 20, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-31429?

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

How do I fix or remediate CVE-2026-31429?

Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from linux. Update linux_kernel to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2026-31429?

CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2026-31429 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.