CVE-2026-63949

auxdisplay: line-display: fix OOB read on zero-length message_store()

HIGH
7.1
CVSS Score
Published: July 19, 2026 at 02:55 PM UTC
Updated: October 30, 2026 at 02:27 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

Using Linux by Linux?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect Linux - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH7.1
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: auxdisplay: line-display: fix OOB read on zero-length message_store() linedisp_display() unconditionally reads msg[count - 1] before checking whether count is zero, so a write of zero bytes to the message sysfs attribute hits msg[-1]: write(fd, "", 0); -> message_store(..., buf, count=0) -> linedisp_display(linedisp, buf, count=0) -> msg[count - 1] == '\n' ; OOB read The kernfs write buffer for that store is a 1-byte allocation (kernfs_fop_write_iter() does kmalloc(len + 1) with len == 0), so msg[-1] is a 1-byte read before the slab object. On a KASAN-enabled kernel this trips an out-of-bounds report and panics; on stock kernels it silently reads adjacent slab data and, if that byte happens to be '\n', the following count-- wraps ssize_t 0 to -1 and is then passed to kmemdup_nul(). linedisp_display() is reached from the message_store() sysfs callback (drivers/auxdisplay/line-display.c message attribute, mode 0644) and from the in-tree initial-message setup with count == -1, so the OOB path is only userspace-triggerable via zero-byte writes; vfs_write() does not short-circuit on count == 0 and kernfs_fop_write_iter() dispatches the store callback regardless. Guard the trailing-newline trim with a count check. The existing if (!count) block then takes the clear-display path unchanged. Affects every auxdisplay driver that registers via linedisp_register() / linedisp_attach(): ht16k33, max6959, img-ascii-lcd, seg-led-gpio.

Affected

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

5.16 ≤ v < 6.1.1766.13 ≤ v < 6.18.356.19 ≤ v < 7.0.126.2 ≤ v < 6.6.1436.7 ≤ v < 6.12.935.167.17e76aece6f036cb7ada4858d6aa73825bfe22983
Vendor states this is fixed in 197476b126010bac1b3199833c6966cd6f54c2a9 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 3859960daeb9b7b39b9847b5b0113bc6081eb735 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6ad4f75ef9f3372fce8cad494e789ac6a5507bef (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8776032fe989a9b5fc77f2de5e03e4adb44c630e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in a7511dcd9dd4bc55d123f9b800c8a4ed2662e5c6 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in ca5b0781946d5083ceafa752141f47f085853620 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.16 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.176 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.93 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.35 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.143 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.0.12 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1 (unaffected)

CVSS

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

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-125

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card