CVE-2026-31503 udp: Fix wildcard bind conflict check when using hash2

What is CVE-2026-31503?

CVE-2026-31503 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

udp: Fix wildcard bind conflict check when using hash2

When binding a udp_sock to a local address and port, UDP uses two hashes (udptable->hash and udptable->hash2) for collision detection. The current code switches to "hash2" when hslot->count > 10.

"hash2" is keyed by local address and local port. "hash" is keyed by local port only.

The issue can be shown in the following bind sequence (pseudo code):

bind(fd1, "[fd00::1]:8888") bind(fd2, "[fd00::2]:8888") bind(fd3, "[fd00::3]:8888") bind(fd4, "[fd00::4]:8888") bind(fd5, "[fd00::5]:8888") bind(fd6, "[fd00::6]:8888") bind(fd7, "[fd00::7]:8888") bind(fd8, "[fd00::8]:8888") bind(fd9, "[fd00::9]:8888") bind(fd10, "[fd00::10]:8888")

/* Correctly return -EADDRINUSE because "hash" is used * instead of "hash2". udp_lib_lport_inuse() detects the * conflict. */ bind(fail_fd, "[::]:8888")

/* After one more socket is bound to "[fd00::11]:8888", * hslot->count exceeds 10 and "hash2" is used instead. */ bind(fd11, "[fd00::11]:8888") bind(fail_fd, "[::]:8888") /* succeeds unexpectedly */

The same issue applies to the IPv4 wildcard address "0.0.0.0" and the IPv4-mapped wildcard address "::ffff:0.0.0.0". For example, if there are existing sockets bound to "192.168.1.[1-11]:8888", then binding "0.0.0.0:8888" or "[::ffff:0.0.0.0]:8888" can also miss the conflict when hslot->count > 10.

TCP inet_csk_get_port() already has the correct check in inet_use_bhash2_on_bind(). Rename it to inet_use_hash2_on_bind() and move it to inet_hashtables.h so udp.c can reuse it in this fix.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31503?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-31503?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-31503 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31503 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as AZL-83351, BELL-CVE-2026-31503, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31503, GHSA-8g49-x5x5-4c9c, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31503, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-31503 and 4 more.