# CVE-2026-43226: net/rds: No shortcut out of RDS_CONN_ERROR

> A state machine flaw in the Linux kernel RDS module can cause connections to get stuck, leading to a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 May 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-43226, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43226, GHSA-mjj8-gm8f-325h, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-43226, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-43226, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-43226, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43226

## What is CVE-2026-43226?

CVE-2026-43226 is a high-severity denial of service 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/rds: No shortcut out of RDS_CONN_ERROR

RDS connections carry a state "rds_conn_path::cp_state"
and transitions from one state to another and are conditional
upon an expected state: "rds_conn_path_transition."

There is one exception to this conditionality, which is
"RDS_CONN_ERROR" that can be enforced by "rds_conn_path_drop"
regardless of what state the condition is currently in.

But as soon as a connection enters state "RDS_CONN_ERROR",
the connection handling code expects it to go through the
shutdown-path.

The RDS/TCP multipath changes added a shortcut out of
"RDS_CONN_ERROR" straight back to "RDS_CONN_CONNECTING"
via "rds_tcp_accept_one_path" (e.g. after "rds_tcp_state_change").

A subsequent "rds_tcp_reset_callbacks" can then transition
the state to "RDS_CONN_RESETTING" with a shutdown-worker queued.

That'll trip up "rds_conn_init_shutdown", which was
never adjusted to handle "RDS_CONN_RESETTING" and subsequently
drops the connection with the dreaded "DR_INV_CONN_STATE",
which leaves "RDS_SHUTDOWN_WORK_QUEUED" on forever.

So we do two things here:

a) Don't shortcut "RDS_CONN_ERROR", but take the longer
   path through the shutdown code.

b) Add "RDS_CONN_RESETTING" to the expected states in
  "rds_conn_init_shutdown" so that we won't error out
  and get stuck, if we ever hit weird state transitions
  like this again."

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43226?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-43226?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-43226 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43226 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-43226 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43226 is a high-severity denial of service 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43226 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43226/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43226/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43226
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43226
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43226

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43226/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.