Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-31518

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: esp: fix skb leak with espintcp and async crypto When the TX queue for espintcp is full, esp_output_tail_tcp will return an error and not free the skb, because with synchronous crypto, the common xfrm output code will drop the packet for us. With async crypto (esp_output_done), we need to drop the skb when esp_output_tail_tcp returns an error.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (5.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 6th percentile — 5.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-31518: held from 0.001 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593, 5.6, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 7.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-31518?
CVE-2026-31518 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-04-22.
How severe is CVE-2026-31518?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.