# CVE-2026-43351: KVM: arm64: Eagerly init vgic dist/redist on vgic creation

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's KVM arm64 VGIC initialization can cause a system crash during error handling.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 May 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-43351, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43351, GHSA-r4j8-j92h-3745, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43351

## What is CVE-2026-43351?

CVE-2026-43351 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 May 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:

KVM: arm64: Eagerly init vgic dist/redist on vgic creation

If vgic_allocate_private_irqs_locked() fails for any odd reason,
we exit kvm_vgic_create() early, leaving dist->rd_regions uninitialised.

kvm_vgic_dist_destroy() then comes along and walks into the weeds
trying to free the RDs. Got to love this stuff.

Solve it by moving all the static initialisation early, and make
sure that if we fail halfway, we're in a reasonable shape to
perform the rest of the teardown. While at it, reset the vgic model
on failure, just in case...

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43351?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-43351?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-43351 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43351 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-2026-43351 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43351 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43351 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-2026-43351/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43351/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43351
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43351
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43351

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43351/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.