The Linux kernel’s simple ring buffer reader swap routine mismanages its retry counter, causing a successful replacement to be reported as an error and a failed replacement to be treated as successful. This erroneous bookkeeping corrupts ring buffer state and may corrupt kernel memory, leading to crashes or other integrity violations. The flaw represents an improper buffer handling vulnerability (CWE-787).

All Linux kernel versions that have not incorporated the committing change are affected. No specific kernel version range is listed, so any unpatched kernel may be vulnerable, regardless of distribution or patch level.

The CVSS score of 7.8 indicates high severity, while the EPSS score of less than 1 % indicates a very low likelihood of exploitation at present. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, but because the flaw resides in core kernel tracing code, it could be triggered by any privileged process that initiates ring‑buffer swap operations. If successfully exploited, memory corruption could lead to kernel panics or provide a foothold for privilege escalation.