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CVE-2026-23383
bpf, arm64: Force 8-byte alignment for JIT buffer to prevent atomic tearing
Published 2026-03-25 (7 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem arch/arm64. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-23383 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6238-1 · 2026-04-30 · text | 6.12.85-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6238-1 shipped the fix on 2026-04-30, in 6.12.85-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 6.19.8-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.19.8-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 6.19.8-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.19.8-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
struct bpf_plt contains a u64 target field. Currently, the BPF JIT allocator requests an alignment of 4 bytes (sizeof(u32)) for the JIT buffer. Because the base address of the JIT buffer can be 4-byte aligned (e.g., ending in 0x4 or 0xc), the relative padding logic in build_plt() fails to ensure that target lands on an 8-byte boundary. This leads to two issues: 1. UBSAN reports misaligned-access warnings when dereferencing the structure. 2. More critically, target is updated concurrently via WRITE_ONCE() in bpf_arch_text_poke() while the JIT'd code executes ldr. On arm64, 64-bit loads/stores are only guaranteed to be single-copy atomic if they are 64-bit aligned. A misaligned target risks a torn read, causing the JIT to jump to a corrupted address. Fix this by increasing the allocation alignment requirement to 8 bytes (sizeof(u64)) in bpf_jit_binary_pack_alloc(). This anchors the base of the JIT buffer to an 8-byte boundary, allowing the relative padding math in build_plt() to correctly align the target field.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
arch/arm64/net/bpf_jit_comp.c
- What this is
- BPF JIT for ARM64MAINTAINERS section matched on arch/arm64/net/ · bpf@vger.kernel.org · Supported
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_BPF_JIT /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.
- bookwormy
- trixie, forky, sidYnot built on s390x/s390x
- y
- built into the kernel image on every flavour - only a patch removes it
- Y
- built in where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switch
- CONFIG_BPF_JIT
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-03-25 (7 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.13%, higher than 2.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- arch/arm64
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.0 | 6.12.77 | 80ad264da02c |
| 6.0 | 6.18.17 | 519b1ad91de5 |
| 6.0 | 6.19.7 | 66959ed481a4 |
| 6.0 | 7.0 | ef06fd16d487 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSA-6238-1 | 2026-04-30 | trixie 6.12.85-1 | tracker |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:LAttack vector, local
- BPF is accessed via the bpf() syscall, requiring local system access. There is no remote or adjacent network path to trigger BPF program loading or trampoline attachment.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker controls both sides of the race — they load the BPF program (creating the misaligned PLT) and trigger the text_poke (by attaching a trampoline). The ~50% misalignment chance is overcome by loading multiple programs. No conditions beyond attacker control are needed.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- While CAP_BPF and CAP_PERFMON are required, the BPF token delegation mechanism allows these capabilities to be granted to users in user namespaces. This is a supported, reasonable deployment scenario for containerized BPF workloads.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No user interaction is required. The attacker independently loads BPF programs and attaches trampolines.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The vulnerability results in kernel-level control flow corruption within the same security authority. No VM escape, IOMMU bypass, or sandbox boundary crossing occurs.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The torn PLT target causes a kernel-mode jump to a corrupted address, which is a control-flow hijack in kernel context. This could be leveraged to read arbitrary kernel memory through code execution.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- A kernel-mode jump to a corrupted address constitutes control-flow hijacking that could be leveraged for arbitrary code execution in kernel context, enabling arbitrary memory writes.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Jumping to a corrupted address in kernel mode will almost certainly cause a kernel panic/oops, resulting in complete denial of service.