CVE-2026-31521

NameCVE-2026-31521
DescriptionIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: module: Fix kernel panic when a symbol st_shndx is out of bounds The module loader doesn't check for bounds of the ELF section index in simplify_symbols(): for (i = 1; i < symsec->sh_size / sizeof(Elf_Sym); i++) { const char *name = info->strtab + sym[i].st_name; switch (sym[i].st_shndx) { case SHN_COMMON: [...] default: /* Divert to percpu allocation if a percpu var. */ if (sym[i].st_shndx == info->index.pcpu) secbase = (unsigned long)mod_percpu(mod); else /** HERE --> **/ secbase = info->sechdrs[sym[i].st_shndx].sh_addr; sym[i].st_value += secbase; break; } } A symbol with an out-of-bounds st_shndx value, for example 0xffff (known as SHN_XINDEX or SHN_HIRESERVE), may cause a kernel panic: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ... RIP: 0010:simplify_symbols+0x2b2/0x480 ... Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception This can happen when module ELF is legitimately using SHN_XINDEX or when it is corrupted. Add a bounds check in simplify_symbols() to validate that st_shndx is within the valid range before using it. This issue was discovered due to a bug in llvm-objcopy, see relevant discussion for details [1]. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-modules/20251224005752.201911-1-ihor.solodrai@linux.dev/
SourceCVE (at NVD; CERT, ENISA, LWN, oss-sec, fulldisc, Debian ELTS, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Gentoo, SUSE bugzilla/CVE, GitHub advisories/code/issues, web search, more)
ReferencesDLA-4561-1, DSA-6238-1, DSA-6243-1

Vulnerable and fixed packages

The table below lists information on source packages.

Source PackageReleaseVersionStatus
linux (PTS)bullseye5.10.223-1vulnerable
bullseye (security)5.10.251-4vulnerable
bookworm6.1.159-1vulnerable
bookworm (security)6.1.170-3fixed
trixie6.12.73-1vulnerable
trixie (security)6.12.86-1fixed
forky, sid7.0.4-1fixed
linux-6.1 (PTS)bullseye (security)6.1.170-3~deb11u1fixed

The information below is based on the following data on fixed versions.

PackageTypeReleaseFixed VersionUrgencyOriginDebian Bugs
linuxsourcebookworm6.1.170-1DSA-6243-1
linuxsourcetrixie6.12.85-1DSA-6238-1
linuxsource(unstable)6.19.11-1
linux-6.1sourcebullseye6.1.170-1~deb11u1DLA-4561-1

Notes

https://git.kernel.org/linus/f9d69d5e7bde2295eb7488a56f094ac8f5383b92 (7.0-rc3)

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