Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-23266

Linux Kernel 2.6.12.1 – 5.10.251

Published
18 March 2026
Modified
29 May 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0011 2th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-23266 is a medium-severity Divide By Zero (CWE-369) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and CM-7 (Least Functionality) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fbdev: rivafb: fix divide error in nv3_arb() A userspace program can trigger the RIVA NV3 arbitration code by calling the FBIOPUT_VSCREENINFO ioctl on /dev/fb*. When doing so, the driver recomputes…

more

FIFO arbitration parameters in nv3_arb(), using state->mclk_khz (derived from the PRAMDAC MCLK PLL) as a divisor without validating it first. In a normal setup, state->mclk_khz is provided by the real hardware and is non-zero. However, an attacker can construct a malicious or misconfigured device (e.g. a crafted/emulated PCI device) that exposes a bogus PLL configuration, causing state->mclk_khz to become zero. Once nv3_get_param() calls nv3_arb(), the division by state->mclk_khz in the gns calculation causes a divide error and crashes the kernel. Fix this by checking whether state->mclk_khz is zero and bailing out before doing the division. The following log reveals it: rivafb: setting virtual Y resolution to 2184 divide error: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN PTI CPU: 0 PID: 2187 Comm: syz-executor.0 Not tainted 5.18.0-rc1+ #1 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.12.0-59-gc9ba5276e321-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:nv3_arb drivers/video/fbdev/riva/riva_hw.c:439 [inline] RIP: 0010:nv3_get_param+0x3ab/0x13b0 drivers/video/fbdev/riva/riva_hw.c:546 Call Trace: nv3CalcArbitration.constprop.0+0x255/0x460 drivers/video/fbdev/riva/riva_hw.c:603 nv3UpdateArbitrationSettings drivers/video/fbdev/riva/riva_hw.c:637 [inline] CalcStateExt+0x447/0x1b90 drivers/video/fbdev/riva/riva_hw.c:1246 riva_load_video_mode+0x8a9/0xea0 drivers/video/fbdev/riva/fbdev.c:779 rivafb_set_par+0xc0/0x5f0 drivers/video/fbdev/riva/fbdev.c:1196 fb_set_var+0x604/0xeb0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1033 do_fb_ioctl+0x234/0x670 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1109 fb_ioctl+0xdd/0x130 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1188 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x122/0x190 fs/ioctl.c:856

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Why these techniques?

Local userspace ioctl on fbdev triggers unvalidated divide-by-zero in kernel driver, directly enabling endpoint DoS via system exploitation.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-43238Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31770Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31618Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-46184Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31767Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-46161Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-43182Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31603Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31605Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-43411Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
2.6.12 · 2.6.12.1 — 5.10.251 · 5.11 — 5.15.201 · 5.16 — 6.1.164

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-11 Error Handling
  • CM-7 Least Functionality
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation of untrusted hardware-derived values (state->mclk_khz) before arithmetic use in nv3_arb().

prevent

Requires graceful handling of invalid arithmetic conditions such as divide-by-zero instead of a kernel crash.

prevent

Disables or restricts loading of the rivafb driver when the framebuffer device is not required, eliminating the vulnerable code path.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly include code analysis, input validation, and testing that prevent divide-by-zero errors.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover divide-by-zero flaws via static analysis or testing.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching and replacement can remediate divide-by-zero bugs present in deployed software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing in development can detect divide-by-zero conditions before release.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes input validation and error-handling practices that can prevent divide-by-zero faults.

prevents

Application security requirements can mandate checks for zero denominators and safe arithmetic handling.

prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive coding patterns that avoid arithmetic exceptions.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly require validation to prevent divide-by-zero and similar runtime faults.

References