CVE-2026-31696: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rxrpc: Fix missing validation of ticket length in non-XDR key preparsing In rxrpc_preparse(), there are two paths for parsing key payloads: the XDR path (for large payloads) and the non-XDR path (for payloads <= 28 bytes). While the XDR path (rxrpc_preparse_xdr_rxkad()) correctly validates the ticket length against AFSTOKEN_RK_TIX_MAX, the non-XDR path fails to do so. This allows an unprivileged user to provide a very large ticket length. When this key is later read via rxrpc_read(), the total token size (toksize) calculation results in a value that exceeds AFSTOKEN_LENGTH_MAX, triggering a WARN_ON(). [ 2001.302904] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 2108 at net/rxrpc/key.c:778 rxrpc_read+0x109/0x5c0 [rxrpc] Fix this by adding a check in the non-XDR parsing path of rxrpc_preparse() to ensure the ticket length does not exceed AFSTOKEN_RK_TIX_MAX, bringing it into parity with the XDR parsing logic.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-31696, a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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