CVE-2026-72428: Linux

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix stack slot index in nospec checks check_stack_write_fixed_off() computes the byte slot for a fixed-offset stack write as -off - 1, and records each written byte in slot_type[] with (slot - i) % BPF_REG_SIZE. The Spectre v4 sanitization pre-check uses slot_type[i] instead. For a 4-byte write at fp-8 after the lower half of fp-8 has been zeroed, the pre-check scans bytes 0..3 and sees STACK_ZERO while the actual write updates bytes 7..4. That can leave the second half-slot write without nospec_result even though the bytes being overwritten still require sanitization. Use the same slot index in the sanitization pre-check that the write path uses when updating slot_type[].

Affected products

• Linux Linux: from 5.10.56, before 5.10.261 (fixed in 5.10.261); from 4.19.207, before 4.20 (fixed in 4.20); from 5.4.146, before 5.5 (fixed in 5.5); from 5.13.8, before 5.14 (fixed in 5.14); from 5.14, before 5.15.212 (fixed in 5.15.212); from 5.16, before 6.1.178 (fixed in 6.1.178); …

Published 2026-08-15. Last modified 2026-08-17.