Linux: Uncontrolled Recursion
CVE-2026-53202 is a high-severity uncontrolled recursion vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 4788556d4dd9d717037e385de178974e9649231d, 45cb105b8642c65e9be286f7058e92314efe7ea3, 2821bf2b79e47f87e1dbdd9d25c78240965a97d6 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.16% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to 4788556d4dd9d717037e385de178974e9649231d or 45cb105b8642c65e9be286f7058e92314efe7ea3 or 2821bf2b79e47f87e1dbdd9d25c78240965a97d6 or d9faef564438d1e4579c692c046603e7ada7bdf4, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.12.94 or 6.18.36 or 7.0.13, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 3b434a3445fff3149128db0169da864d67057325 up to, but not including, 4788556d4dd9d717037e385de178974e9649231d; 3b434a3445fff3149128db0169da864d67057325 up to, but not including, 45cb105b8642c65e9be286f7058e92314efe7ea3; 3b434a3445fff3149128db0169da864d67057325 up to, but not including, 2821bf2b79e47f87e1dbdd9d25c78240965a97d6; 3b434a3445fff3149128db0169da864d67057325 up to, but not including, d9faef564438d1e4579c692c046603e7ada7bdf4; 6.8 | 4788556d4dd9d717037e385de178974e9649231d, 45cb105b8642c65e9be286f7058e92314efe7ea3, 2821bf2b79e47f87e1dbdd9d25c78240965a97d6, d9faef564438d1e4579c692c046603e7ada7bdf4 |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 6.8 up to, but not including, 6.12.94; 6.13 up to, but not including, 6.18.36; 6.19 up to, but not including, 7.0.13; 7.1 | 6.12.94, 6.18.36, 7.0.13 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CNA |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.3 | High | CNA |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: accel/ivpu: Fix signed integer truncation in IPC receive Fix potential buffer overflow where firmware-supplied data_size is cast to signed int before being used in min_t(). Large unsigned values (>= 0x80000000) become negative, causing unsigned wraparound and oversized memcpy operations that can overflow the stack buffer. Change min_t(int, ...) to min() as both values are unsigned and can be handled by min() without explicit cast.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Uncontrolled Recursion
The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Ensure that an end condition will be reached under all logic conditions. The end condition may include checking against the depth of recursion and exiting with an error if the recursion goes too deep. The complexity of the end condition contributes to the effectiveness of this action.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Third-party and government advisories
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-53202Third Party Advisory
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2492823Third Party Advisory
- security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-53202.jsonThird Party Advisory
Recent Uncontrolled Recursion vulnerabilities
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
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