CVE-2026-43208 net: do not pass flow_id to set_rps_cpu()

What is CVE-2026-43208?

CVE-2026-43208 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

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

net: do not pass flow_id to set_rps_cpu()

Blamed commit made the assumption that the RPS table for each receive queue would have the same size, and that it would not change.

Compute flow_id in set_rps_cpu(), do not assume we can use the value computed by get_rps_cpu(). Otherwise we risk out-of-bound access and/or crashes.

Weakness: CWE-787

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43208?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-43208?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2026-43208 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43208 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 BELL-CVE-2026-43208, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43208, GHSA-6cq8-8cqv-fh6c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43208.