Buffer overflow in Linux
CVE-2026-46281
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vmalloc: fix buffer overflow in vrealloc_node_align() Commit 4c5d3365882d ("mm/vmalloc: allow to set node and align in vrealloc") added the ability to force a new allocation if the current pointer is on the wrong NUMA node, or if an alignment constraint is not met, even if the user is shrinking the allocation. On this path (need_realloc), the code allocates a new object of 'size' bytes and then memcpy()s 'old_size' bytes into it. If the request is to shrink the object (size < old_size), this results in an out-of-bounds write on the new buffer. Fix this by bounding the copy length by the new allocation size.
Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.002 (7.9th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 8th percentile — 7.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Linux — versions 4c5d3365882dbbc0784688784904f440d7a4c0f1, 6.18, 0
- Linux Kernel — versions 7.1
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-46281?
- CVE-2026-46281 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2026-06-08.
- How severe is CVE-2026-46281?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.