Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-45851 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 5th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-32317
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: efi: Fix reservation of unaccepted memory table The reserve_unaccepted() function incorrectly calculates the size of the memblock reservation for the unaccepted memory table. It aligns the size of the table,…
more
but fails to account for cases where the table's starting physical address (efi.unaccepted) is not page-aligned. If the table starts at an offset within a page and its end crosses into a subsequent page that the aligned size does not cover, the end of the table will not be reserved. This can lead to the table being overwritten or inaccessible, causing a kernel panic in accept_memory(). This issue was observed when starting Intel TDX VMs with specific memory sizes (e.g., > 64GB). Fix this by calculating the end address first (including the unaligned start) and then aligning it up, ensuring the entire range is covered by the reservation.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Kernel memory reservation flaw in EFI/TDX path directly triggers panic via table overwrite/inaccessibility, enabling endpoint DoS via system exploitation.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Rigorous developer testing with varied memory sizes and non-page-aligned EFI tables would have detected the incorrect end-address calculation in reserve_unaccepted().
Prompt application of the kernel patch that calculates the reservation end address (including unaligned start) before aligning eliminates the out-of-bounds exposure.
Memory-protection mechanisms can block or contain overwrites of the unaccepted table even if the reservation is incomplete, preventing the subsequent panic in accept_memory().
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.
Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.
Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.
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.
Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.