Home/CVE/In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vt: discard stale unicode buffer on alt screen exit
CVE

CVE-2026-31742

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vt: discard stale unicode buffer on alt screen exit

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vt: discard stale unicode buffer on alt screen exit after resize When enter_alt_screen() saves vc_uni_lines into vc_saved_uni_lines and sets vc_uni_lines to NULL, a subsequent console resize via vc_do_resize() skips reallocating the unicode buffer because vc_uni_lines is NULL. However, vc_saved_uni_lines still points to the old buffer allocated for the original dimensions. When leave_alt_screen() later restores vc_saved_uni_lines, the buffer dimensions no longer match vc_rows/vc_cols.

Any operation that iterates over the unicode buffer using the current dimensions (e.g. csi_J clearing the screen) will access memory out of bounds, causing a kernel oops: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0x0000002000000020 RIP: 0010:csi_J+0x133/0x2d0 The faulting address 0x0000002000000020 is two adjacent u32 space characters (0x20) interpreted as a pointer, read from the row data area past the end of the 25-entry pointer array in a buffer allocated for 80x25 but accessed with 240x67 dimensions. Fix this by checking whether the console dimensions changed while in the alternate screen. If they did, free the stale saved buffer instead of restoring it.

The unicode screen will be lazily rebuilt via vc_uniscr_check() when next needed.

HIGH · CVSS 7.8 EPSS 0.00015
Schedule remediation
  • CVSS base score ≥ 7.0
Sigma rules0 YARA rules0

Weakness Classification

Affected Products & Versions

3
linux kernel>= 6.18.20 and < 6.18.22
linux kernel>= 6.19.10 and < 6.19.12
linux kernelall versions

Scoring & Timeline

7.8
HIGH · CVSS v3.1 · 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
View on NVD
Attack Vector
Network Adjacent Local Physical
Attack Complexity
Low High
Privileges Required
None Low High
User Interaction
None Required
Scope
Unchanged Changed
Confidentiality
None Low High
Integrity
None Low High
Availability
None Low High
Published to NVD01 May 2026 · 03:16 PM
CVSS VectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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