Linux kernel is ubiquitous; a kernel-level NVMe bounds bug can enable privilege escalation or widespread DoS across servers and endpoints.
CVE-2026-74361
Linux kernel NVMe off-by-one bug enabling kernel memory corruption
Is CVE-2026-74361 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-74361 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.44% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-74361?
CVE-2026-74361 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-74361?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-74361. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-74361 affect?
CVE-2026-74361 affects Linux kernel (nvme driver), Linux distributions with vulnerable kernels, VM hosts with NVMe passthrough. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-74361?
Update to vendor-published patched Linux kernel immediately; apply distro advisories.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Local attackers can trigger kernel memory corruption via crafted NVMe commands, enabling privilege escalation or system crash (DoS).
Immediate action required
- affected>= 30b5f20bb2ddab013035399e5c7e6577da49320a and < 5e406928404d67a8da8aa3ae21732e1ea1a04118
- affected>= 30b5f20bb2ddab013035399e5c7e6577da49320a and < 5d0e7d2af884b91329235abb16652ae4eead8079
- affected>= 30b5f20bb2ddab013035399e5c7e6577da49320a and < 0967074f6830718fd2597404ef119bddd0dbfd00
- affected6.16
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.