Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-9W3C-WC93-J4JX

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-05-08 15:31 – Updated: 2026-05-18 15:30

Details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

x86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments()

The load_segments() function changes segment registers, invalidating GS base (which KCOV relies on for per-cpu data). When CONFIG_KCOV is enabled, any subsequent instrumented C code call (e.g. native_gdt_invalidate()) begins crashing the kernel in an endless loop.

To reproduce the problem, it's sufficient to do kexec on a KCOV-instrumented kernel:

$ kexec -l /boot/otherKernel $ kexec -e

The real-world context for this problem is enabling crash dump collection in syzkaller. For this, the tool loads a panic kernel before fuzzing and then calls makedumpfile after the panic. This workflow requires both CONFIG_KEXEC and CONFIG_KCOV to be enabled simultaneously.

Adding safeguards directly to the KCOV fast-path (__sanitizer_cov_trace_pc()) is also undesirable as it would introduce an extra performance overhead.

Disabling instrumentation for the individual functions would be too fragile, so disable KCOV instrumentation for the entire machine_kexec_64.c and physaddr.c. If coverage-guided fuzzing ever needs these components in the future, other approaches should be considered.

The problem is not relevant for 32 bit kernels as CONFIG_KCOV is not supported there.

[ bp: Space out comment for better readability. ]

Severity

5.5 (Medium)


                  
                    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-43331"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-05-08T14:16:42Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nx86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments()\n\nThe load_segments() function changes segment registers, invalidating GS base\n(which KCOV relies on for per-cpu data). When CONFIG_KCOV is enabled, any\nsubsequent instrumented C code call (e.g. native_gdt_invalidate()) begins\ncrashing the kernel in an endless loop.\n\nTo reproduce the problem, it\u0027s sufficient to do kexec on a KCOV-instrumented\nkernel:\n\n  $ kexec -l /boot/otherKernel\n  $ kexec -e\n\nThe real-world context for this problem is enabling crash dump collection in\nsyzkaller. For this, the tool loads a panic kernel before fuzzing and then\ncalls makedumpfile after the panic. This workflow requires both CONFIG_KEXEC\nand CONFIG_KCOV to be enabled simultaneously.\n\nAdding safeguards directly to the KCOV fast-path (__sanitizer_cov_trace_pc())\nis also undesirable as it would introduce an extra performance overhead.\n\nDisabling instrumentation for the individual functions would be too fragile,\nso disable KCOV instrumentation for the entire machine_kexec_64.c and\nphysaddr.c. If coverage-guided fuzzing ever needs these components in the\nfuture, other approaches should be considered.\n\nThe problem is not relevant for 32 bit kernels as CONFIG_KCOV is not supported\nthere.\n\n  [ bp: Space out comment for better readability. ]",
  "id": "GHSA-9w3c-wc93-j4jx",
  "modified": "2026-05-18T15:30:31Z",
  "published": "2026-05-08T15:31:23Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43331"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e3e98596c2769721ade0418434852fb3af4849a"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/917e3ad3321e75ca0223d5ccf26ceda116aa51e1"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de05c66fab8847237a9ca216934e56d3ee837f08"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2026-43331 (GCVE-0-2026-43331)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-05-08 13:31 – Updated: 2026-05-11 22:22

Title

x86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments()

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments() The load_segments() function changes segment registers, invalidating GS base (which KCOV relies on for per-cpu data). When CONFIG_KCOV is enabled, any subsequent instrumented C code call (e.g. native_gdt_invalidate()) begins crashing the kernel in an endless loop. To reproduce the problem, it's sufficient to do kexec on a KCOV-instrumented kernel: $ kexec -l /boot/otherKernel $ kexec -e The real-world context for this problem is enabling crash dump collection in syzkaller. For this, the tool loads a panic kernel before fuzzing and then calls makedumpfile after the panic. This workflow requires both CONFIG_KEXEC and CONFIG_KCOV to be enabled simultaneously. Adding safeguards directly to the KCOV fast-path (__sanitizer_cov_trace_pc()) is also undesirable as it would introduce an extra performance overhead. Disabling instrumentation for the individual functions would be too fragile, so disable KCOV instrumentation for the entire machine_kexec_64.c and physaddr.c. If coverage-guided fuzzing ever needs these components in the future, other approaches should be considered. The problem is not relevant for 32 bit kernels as CONFIG_KCOV is not supported there. [ bp: Space out comment for better readability. ]

Severity

No CVSS data available.

Assigner

Linux

References

3 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e3e98596c2769721…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de05c66fab8847237…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/917e3ad3321e75ca0…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version
Linux	Linux	Affected: 0d345996e4cb573f8cc81d49b3ee9a7fd2035bef , < 1e3e98596c2769721ade0418434852fb3af4849a (git) Affected: 0d345996e4cb573f8cc81d49b3ee9a7fd2035bef , < de05c66fab8847237a9ca216934e56d3ee837f08 (git) Affected: 0d345996e4cb573f8cc81d49b3ee9a7fd2035bef , < 917e3ad3321e75ca0223d5ccf26ceda116aa51e1 (git)
Linux	Linux	Affected: 6.6 Unaffected: 0 , < 6.6 (semver) Unaffected: 6.18.22 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.19.12 , ≤ 6.19.* (semver) Unaffected: 7.0 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)

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{
  "containers": {
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      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "arch/x86/kernel/Makefile",
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              "versionType": "git"
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          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "version": "6.6"
            },
            {
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              "status": "unaffected",
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              "versionType": "semver"
            },
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              "version": "6.18.22",
              "versionType": "semver"
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              "status": "unaffected",
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nx86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments()\n\nThe load_segments() function changes segment registers, invalidating GS base\n(which KCOV relies on for per-cpu data). When CONFIG_KCOV is enabled, any\nsubsequent instrumented C code call (e.g. native_gdt_invalidate()) begins\ncrashing the kernel in an endless loop.\n\nTo reproduce the problem, it\u0027s sufficient to do kexec on a KCOV-instrumented\nkernel:\n\n  $ kexec -l /boot/otherKernel\n  $ kexec -e\n\nThe real-world context for this problem is enabling crash dump collection in\nsyzkaller. For this, the tool loads a panic kernel before fuzzing and then\ncalls makedumpfile after the panic. This workflow requires both CONFIG_KEXEC\nand CONFIG_KCOV to be enabled simultaneously.\n\nAdding safeguards directly to the KCOV fast-path (__sanitizer_cov_trace_pc())\nis also undesirable as it would introduce an extra performance overhead.\n\nDisabling instrumentation for the individual functions would be too fragile,\nso disable KCOV instrumentation for the entire machine_kexec_64.c and\nphysaddr.c. If coverage-guided fuzzing ever needs these components in the\nfuture, other approaches should be considered.\n\nThe problem is not relevant for 32 bit kernels as CONFIG_KCOV is not supported\nthere.\n\n  [ bp: Space out comment for better readability. ]"
        }
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    "datePublished": "2026-05-08T13:31:18.787Z",
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Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

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GHSA-9W3C-WC93-J4JX

CVE-2026-43331 (GCVE-0-2026-43331)

Tags

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Nomenclature