x86/kexec: Disable KCOV instrumentation after load_segments()
CVE-2026-43331 is fixed in 14 products on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43331, released May 15, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.
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. ]
Where it's fixed
| Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | |||
| dtb-aarch64 · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-64kb · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-64kb · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-azure · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-azure · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-default · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-default · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-default-base · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.22 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-default-base · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-docs · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-docs · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-kvmsmall · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-kvmsmall · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-obs-build · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-obs-qa · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-obs-qa · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-rt · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-source · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-source · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-syms · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-syms · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-zfcpdump · opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| kernel-zfcpdump · sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| linux · Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 6.12.94-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43331 | May 15, 2026 |
| linux · Debian 14 | 6.19.12-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43331 | May 15, 2026 |
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