CVE-2026-43303

Kernel crash via stale page private state

Published May 8, 2026 · Updated May 8, 2026

Use-after-free in mm/page_alloc.c in Linux Kernel 5.18 and later allows local users to crash the kernel during swap processing. Freed pages retain stale page->private values, causing split tail pages to make swap_count_continued() traverse a poisoned, uninitialized page->lru list. Local access and the affected page-reuse sequence are required; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash rather than a reported privilege gain.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in mm/page_alloc.c in Linux Kernel 5.18 and later allows local users to crash the kernel during swap processing. Freed pages retain stale page->private values, causing split tail pages to make swap_count_continued() traverse a poisoned, uninitialized page->lru list. Local access and the affected page-reuse sequence are required; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash rather than a reported privilege gain.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-43303
Published
May 8, 2026
Updated
May 8, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
CWE-416, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 8, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=3b8000ae185cb068adbda5f966a3835053c85fd4 <23b82b7a26182ad840ae67d390d7ec9771e8c00f
  2. Affected versionversion=3b8000ae185cb068adbda5f966a3835053c85fd4 <ac1ea219590c09572ed5992dc233bbf7bb70fef9
  3. Affected versionversion=3b8000ae185cb068adbda5f966a3835053c85fd4 <d757c793853ec5483eb41ec2942c300b8fa720fb
  4. Affected versionversion=5.18

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=3b8000ae185cb068adbda5f966a3835053c85fd4 <23b82b7a26182ad840ae67d390d7ec9771e8c00f; version=3b8000ae185cb068adbda5f966a3835053c85fd4 <ac1ea219590c09572ed5992dc233bbf7bb70fef9; version=3b8000ae185cb068adbda5f966a3835053c85fd4 <d757c793853ec5483eb41ec2942c300b8fa720fb; version=5.18

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-416Use After Free
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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