Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-53036 in the interactive tracker
CVE-2026-53036
bpf, arm64: Fix off-by-one in check_imm signed range check
Published 2026-06-24 (4 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-2026-53036 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 | fixedDLA-4665-1 · 2026-07-03 · text | 6.1.176-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4665-1 shipped the fix on 2026-07-03, in 6.1.176-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.94-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.94-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.0.10-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.10-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.0.10-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.10-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
check_imm(bits, imm) is used in the arm64 BPF JIT to verify that a branch displacement (in arm64 instruction units) fits into the signed N-bit immediate field of a B, B.cond or CBZ/CBNZ encoding before it is handed to the encoder. The macro currently tests for (imm > 0 && imm >> bits) || (imm < 0 && ~imm >> bits) which admits values in [-2^N, 2^N) — effectively a signed (N+1)-bit range. A signed N-bit field only holds [-2^(N-1), 2^(N-1)), so the check admits one extra bit of range on each side. In particular, for check_imm19(), values in [2^18, 2^19) slip past the check but do not fit into the 19-bit signed imm19 field of B.cond. aarch64_insn_encode_immediate() then masks the raw value into the 19-bit field, setting bit 18 (the sign bit) and flipping a forward branch into a backward one. Same class of issue exists for check_imm26() and the B/BL encoding. Shift by (bits - 1) instead of bits so the actual signed N-bit range is enforced.
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
- 2026-06-24 (4 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
- 0.14%, higher than 2.9% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 3.18 | 6.1.175 | a5dfeb3b6106 |
| 3.18 | 6.6.141 | 7fd3b41260c6 |
| 3.18 | 6.12.91 | 6927f0d6794a |
| 3.18 | 6.18.33 | 1a113b549729 |
| 3.18 | 7.0.10 | fb74defa1cca |
| 3.18 | 7.1 | 1dd8be4ec722 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4671-1 | 2026-07-05 | bullseye 6.1.176-1~deb11u1 | tracker |
| DLA-4665-1 | 2026-07-03 | bookworm 6.1.176-1 | 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
- The vulnerable arm64 BPF JIT code is reached by a local attacker through the bpf() syscall with BPF_PROG_LOAD, not by remote packets or adjacent/physical access.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- Triggering is deterministic once the attacker can load a suitably large BPF program on an arm64 kernel with BPF JIT enabled; there is no race or victim state dependency.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- The oversized program needed to hit the bad immediate range requires privileged BPF loading, but BPF tokens/namespaced delegation make this reachable with non-host-root delegated privileges in plausible deployments. Under the required uncertainty rule, PR:L is the higher-severity defensible choice over PR:H.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim action is required after the attacker submits and runs the crafted BPF program.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The vulnerability affects kernel execution within the same host security authority and is a standard local kernel compromise path, not a VM/container boundary escape by itself.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The JIT can emit a verifier-unmodeled branch into attacker-shaped native BPF code, a BPF JIT verifier-bypass class issue that can plausibly yield arbitrary kernel memory read.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The miscompiled branch can redirect execution through unintended JIT code paths, making arbitrary kernel code execution or write primitives defensible.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Even without full exploitation, the invalid native control flow can reliably crash or hang kernel execution when the malformed BPF program runs.