CVE-2026-43331

x86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments()

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: May 8, 2026 at 01:31 PM UTC
Updated: June 19, 2026 at 01:16 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%

Description

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. ]

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

6.19 ≤ v < 6.19.126.6 ≤ v < 6.12.936.6 ≤ v < 6.18.226.6 ≤ v < 6.19.126.6 ≤ v < 6.6.1436.6 ≤ v < 7.00d345996e4cb573f8cc81d49b3ee9a7fd2035bef7.0 rc17.0 rc27.0 rc37.0 rc47.0 rc57.0 rc6
Vendor states this is fixed in 0e96cd314c0d819c1635d68125a4d77852c2162e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 1e3e98596c2769721ade0418434852fb3af4849a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 593d67032544b9271094fc9b43e437e017cb2b2f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 917e3ad3321e75ca0223d5ccf26ceda116aa51e1 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in de05c66fab8847237a9ca216934e56d3ee837f08 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.93 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.22 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.19.12 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.143 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.0 (unaffected)

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
NVD-CWE-noinfo

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