CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-53036

HighCVSS 7.8
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.14%

4th percentile - higher than 4% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel, an off-by-one error was found in the check_imm function used by the ARM64 BPF JIT to validate immediate values for conditional and unconditional branches. The flaw allows values one bit wider than the signed N-bit field can hold, potentially causing incorrect instruction encoding and reversing branch direction.

Risk Assessment

The risk involves possible misbehavior of BPF code, where branches may jump in the opposite direction than intended, leading to logic errors, system crashes, or potential security breaches through unexpected execution paths.

Recommendation

Immediately update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix for CVE-2026-53036. Monitor official kernel distributions and apply the patch as soon as it becomes available.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, arm64: Fix off-by-one in check_imm signed range check 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.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS