Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-43088

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: af_key: zero aligned sockaddr tail in PF_KEY exports PF_KEY export paths use `pfkey_sockaddr_size()` when reserving sockaddr payload space, so IPv6 addresses occupy 32 bytes on the wire. However, `pfkey_sockaddr_fill()` initializes only the first 28 bytes of `struct sockaddr_in6`, leaving the final 4 aligned bytes uninitialized. Not every PF_KEY message is affected. The state and policy dump builders already zero the whole message buffer before filling the sockaddr payloads. Keep the fix to the export paths that still append aligned sockaddr payloads with plain `skb_put()`: - `SADB_ACQUIRE` - `SADB_X_NAT_T_NEW_MAPPING` - `SADB_X_MIGRATE` Fix those paths by clearing only the aligned sockaddr tail after `pfkey_sockaddr_fill()`.

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 (4.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 5th percentile — 4.8% 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-2026-43088: 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 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, 7.0, 6.19.14
  • Linux Kernel — versions 2.6.12, 7.0

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-43088?
CVE-2026-43088 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-05-06.
How severe is CVE-2026-43088?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.