CVE-2026-43263

Kernel crash via unlocked Wave5 instance teardown

Published May 6, 2026 · Updated May 6, 2026

Null pointer dereference in the Wave5 VPU driver in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during decoder teardown. The interrupt handler accesses the shared struct vpu_instance while concurrent instance destruction removes decoder structures without the locking needed to keep that object valid. Exploitation requires local access to the Wave5 video node and overlapping open or close activity that races with device interrupts.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.12%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Null pointer dereference in the Wave5 VPU driver in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during decoder teardown. The interrupt handler accesses the shared struct vpu_instance while concurrent instance destruction removes decoder structures without the locking needed to keep that object valid. Exploitation requires local access to the Wave5 video node and overlapping open or close activity that races with device interrupts.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-43263
Published
May 6, 2026
Updated
May 6, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 6, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.8
  2. Affected versionversion=9707a6254a8a6b978bde811a44fe07d86c229d1c <d12bcf183ec7da4305d848068d15f18044eaf62a
  3. Affected versionversion=9707a6254a8a6b978bde811a44fe07d86c229d1c <e66ff2b08e4ee1c4d3b84f24818e5bcc178cc3a4
  4. Affected versionversion=9707a6254a8a6b978bde811a44fe07d86c229d1c <ea316b784fe6a61b29131c98cddb24e651b1dcbc

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=6.8; version=9707a6254a8a6b978bde811a44fe07d86c229d1c <d12bcf183ec7da4305d848068d15f18044eaf62a; version=9707a6254a8a6b978bde811a44fe07d86c229d1c <e66ff2b08e4ee1c4d3b84f24818e5bcc178cc3a4; version=9707a6254a8a6b978bde811a44fe07d86c229d1c <ea316b784fe6a61b29131c98cddb24e651b1dcbc

Published CVSS scores

7.8kernel.orgCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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