# CVE-2026-68343: smb: client: validate DFS referral PathConsumed

> A malformed SMB DFS referral response can cause out-of-bounds memory access in the Linux kernel, potentially leading to crashes or code execution.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:** 10 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-68343, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68343, GHSA-jv66-q3cr-4688, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68343

## What is CVE-2026-68343?

CVE-2026-68343 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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:

smb: client: validate DFS referral PathConsumed

parse_dfs_referrals() validates that the response contains the fixed
referral entry array and, on for-next, the per-referral string offsets.
However, the response also contains a PathConsumed value that is later
used for DFS path parsing.

If a malformed response provides a PathConsumed value larger than the
search name, later DFS parsing can advance beyond the end of the path.

Validate PathConsumed against the search name length before storing it in
the parsed referral.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68343?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68343?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-68343 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68343 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68343 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68343 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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-2026-68343 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-68343/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68343/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68343
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68343
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68343

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68343/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.