Local privilege escalation via incorrect BPF pruning
Published May 1, 2026 · Updated May 1, 2026
Improper BPF verifier pruning in Linux Kernel allows local users to gain kernel memory read and write access through crafted BPF bytecode. In backtrack_insn, atomic fetch instructions are treated as ordinary stores, so precision is not propagated from the fetched destination register to its stack slot and distinct verifier states are incorrectly pruned. Loading the crafted program requires CAP_BPF, CAP_SYS_ADMIN, or an equivalent BPF token; a successful bypass permits kernel-memory corruption or a host crash.
Summary
What happened
Improper BPF verifier pruning in Linux Kernel allows local users to gain kernel memory read and write access through crafted BPF bytecode. In backtrack_insn, atomic fetch instructions are treated as ordinary stores, so precision is not propagated from the fetched destination register to its stack slot and distinct verifier states are incorrectly pruned. Loading the crafted program requires CAP_BPF, CAP_SYS_ADMIN, or an equivalent BPF token; a successful bypass permits kernel-memory corruption or a host crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-43009
- Published
- May 1, 2026
- Updated
- May 1, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 1, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 1, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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- Affected versionversion=5.12
- Affected versionversion=5ca419f2864a2c60940dcf4bbaeb69546200e36f <179ee84a89114b854ac2dd1d293633a7f6c8dac1
- Affected versionversion=5ca419f2864a2c60940dcf4bbaeb69546200e36f <7ffbe45b1d227e24659998a91cfd4c27af457e71
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Attacks
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