bootconfig: Fix integer overflow in initrd size check

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bootconfig: Fix integer overflow in initrd size check Sashiko reported that in get_boot_config_from_initrd(), a crafted initrd with a huge bootconfig size (such as 0xFFFFFFFF) can cause the pointer arithmetic: data = ((void *)hdr) - size; to wrap around on 32-bit systems (or when pointer subtraction overflows). Because data wraps around, the subsequent bounds check: if ((unsigned long)data < initrd_start) evaluates to false, bypassing the check. The kernel then calls xbc_calc_checksum(data, size), which attempts to read 4GB of memory, hitting unmapped pages and triggering a fatal kernel page fault during early boot. Furthermore, on 64-bit systems with an initrd > 4.29 GB, an unbounded 32-bit size can similarly bypass the initrd_start check. Fix this by: 1. Ensuring the initrd is at least large enough to contain the bootconfig footer and verifying hdr is within the initrd bounds. 2. Checking that size does not exceed XBC_DATA_MAX and does not exceed the available space between initrd_start and hdr before performing pointer subtraction.

Source published

25 Sep 2026 10:22:31 UTC

Source modified

21 Oct 2026 12:53:32 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

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