Linux Kernel up to 7.1-rc2 rds_message_purge privilege escalation

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6.5	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.87/6.18.29/7.0.6/7.1-rc2. The impacted element is the function rds_message_purge. The manipulation leads to an unknown weakness. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-43502. There is no exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.87/6.18.29/7.0.6/7.1-rc2 and classified as problematic. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/rds: handle zerocopy send cleanup before the message is queued A zerocopy send can fail after user pages have been pinned but before the message is attached to the sending socket. The purge path currently infers zerocopy state from rm->m_rs, so an unqueued message can be cleaned up as if it owned normal payload pages. However, zerocopy ownership is really determined by the presence of op_mmp_znotifier, regardless of whether the message has reached the socket queue. Capture op_mmp_znotifier up front in rds_message_purge() and use it as the cleanup discriminator. If the message is already associated with a socket, keep the existing completion path. Otherwise, drop the pinned page accounting directly and release the notifier before putting the payload pages. This keeps early send failure cleanup consistent with the zerocopy lifetime rules without changing the normal queued completion path.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-43502 since 05/01/2026. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/09/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 316508 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-43502), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.140, 6.12.88, 6.18.30, 7.0.7 or 7.1-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 21d70744e6d3bbf9293aa1ee6fba7c53ad75275e/3abc8983b2bae3f487f77d9da5527d7d6b210d46/14ef6fd18db2494098b21e0471bf27a1d8e9993e/0f5c185fc79a59ee9991234dd6d2a3e5afa6e75b/44b550d88b267320459d518c0743a241ab2108fa is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (316508) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1656). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.139
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.12.69
• 6.12.70
• 6.12.71
• 6.12.72
• 6.12.73
• 6.12.74
• 6.12.75
• 6.12.76
• 6.12.77
• 6.12.78
• 6.12.79
• 6.12.80
• 6.12.81
• 6.12.82
• 6.12.83
• 6.12.84
• 6.12.85
• 6.12.86
• 6.12.87
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3
• 7.0.4
• 7.0.5
• 7.0.6
• 7.1-rc1
• 7.1-rc2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
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CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
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CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.5

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 7.8
CNA Vector (Linux): 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
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Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privilege escalation
CWE: Unknown
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 316508
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-43502

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.6.140/6.12.88/6.18.30/7.0.7/7.1-rc3
Patch: 21d70744e6d3bbf9293aa1ee6fba7c53ad75275e/3abc8983b2bae3f487f77d9da5527d7d6b210d46/14ef6fd18db2494098b21e0471bf27a1d8e9993e/0f5c185fc79a59ee9991234dd6d2a3e5afa6e75b/44b550d88b267320459d518c0743a241ab2108fa

Timelineinfo

05/01/2026 CVE reserved
05/21/2026 +20 days Advisory disclosed
05/21/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
07/09/2026 +49 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-43502 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-43502
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-365009
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2026-1656 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen nicht spezifizierten Angriff

Entryinfo

Created: 05/21/2026 15:22
Updated: 07/09/2026 06:43
Changes: 05/21/2026 15:22 (56), 05/23/2026 00:29 (7), 05/23/2026 05:18 (2), 06/01/2026 08:40 (11), 06/18/2026 21:14 (1), 07/09/2026 06:43 (3)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion

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