CVE Intelligence
Medium Memory corruption

CVE-2026-43043 — crypto: af-alg - fix NULL pointer dereference in scatterwalk

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: af-alg - fix NULL pointer dereference in scatterwalk The AF_ALG interface fails to unmark the end of a Scatter/Gather List (SGL) when chaining a new af_alg_tsgl structure. If a sendmsg() fills an SGL exactly to MAX_SGL_ENTS, the last entry is marked as the end. A subsequent sendmsg() allocates a new SGL and chains it, but fails to clear the end marker on the previous SGL's last data entry. This causes the crypto scatterwalk to hit a premature end, returning NULL on sg_next() and leading to a kernel panic during dereference. Fix this by explicitly unmarking the end of the previous SGL when performing sg_chain() in af_alg_alloc_tsgl().

Published May 1, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.16%
ahead of 5% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
5.5
Medium · 1 source(s)

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux, Linux Linux Kernel).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux version 2.6.38≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < 62397b493e14107ae82d8b80938f293d95425bcb≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < 4b03ab0a587ec57eb7ddb5c115d84a42896f60f7≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < 00cbdec17c15d024a1c5002c7365df7624a18a75≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < 44eafa39363e8d5dfda6a8c6eb6b45458ed4b948≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < 7cdf2c6381b21ab5ccf8116750d5582fcd6c0f49≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < 7195350fb78538c25cd790d703f8f2c73ee0d395≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < f9acceae7b004956851fd4268edf9f518a9bce04
and 1 more ≥ 8ff590903d5fc7f5a0a988c38267a3d08e6393a2 and < f48d3dd99199180cf37d6253550c55e86372309a
Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel version 7.0-rc5version 7.0-rc6≥ 2.6.38 and < 5.10.253version 7.0-rc4version 7.0-rc3version 7.0-rc2version 7.0-rc1≥ 6.19 and < 6.19.12
and 5 more ≥ 6.13 and < 6.18.22≥ 6.7 and < 6.12.81≥ 6.2 and < 6.6.134≥ 5.16 and < 6.1.168≥ 5.11 and < 5.15.203
Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.8 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-476 · NULL Pointer Dereference

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.16%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 5.5
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    May 1, 2026 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

8 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-476
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99999 ipv4: validate checksum_start before completing checksum 10h
  • CVE-2026-98432 ipv4: free inet_opt and ireq_opt after an RCU grace period 10h
  • CVE-2026-98429 RDMA/efa: Keep EQ resources alive while IRQ is registered 1d
  • CVE-2026-98431 RDMA/uverbs: Fix mmap_lock/disassociation_lock circular dependency 1d
  • CVE-2026-98430 RDMA/efa: Keep admin queues alive while IRQ is registered 1d
  • CVE-2026-98428 ALSA: usb: 6fire: Avoid embedded URBs 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No CISA SSVC assessment.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-43043 is "crypto: af-alg - fix NULL pointer dereference in scatterwalk", rated Medium. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.16% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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