Ubuntu 25.10 Kernel Critical Copy Failure Leads to Privilege Escalation

ubuntu

May 19, 2026

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

Summary

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

Software Description:

- linux: Linux kernel

- linux-aws: Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems

- linux-oracle: Linux kernel for Oracle Cloud systems

- linux-raspi: Linux kernel for Raspberry Pi systems

- linux-realtime: Linux kernel for Real-time systems

- linux-hwe-6.17: Linux hardware enablement (HWE) kernel

- linux-oem-6.17: Linux kernel for OEM systems

- linux-realtime-6.17: Linux kernel for Real-time systems

Details:

It was discovered that the Linux kernel algif_aead module did not properly

handle in-place cryptographic operations. This flaw is known as Copy Fail.

A local attacker could use this to escalate privileges, or possibly escape

a container. (CVE-2026-31431)

Several security issues were discovered in the Linux kernel.

An attacker could possibly use these to compromise the system.

This update corrects flaws in the following subsystems:

- S390 architecture;

- Cryptographic API;

- GPU drive...

Read the Full Advisory

Topics Covered

security advisory critical privilege escalation Ubuntu Linux kernel copy fail

Update Instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:

Ubuntu 25.10
   linux-image-6.17.0-1013-realtime  6.17.0-1013.15
   linux-image-6.17.0-1014-oracle  6.17.0-1014.14
   linux-image-6.17.0-1014-oracle-64k  6.17.0-1014.14
   linux-image-6.17.0-1015-aws     6.17.0-1015.15
   linux-image-6.17.0-1015-aws-64k  6.17.0-1015.15
   linux-image-6.17.0-1017-raspi   6.17.0-1017.17
   linux-image-6.17.0-29-generic   6.17.0-29.29
   linux-image-6.17.0-29-generic-64k  6.17.0-29.29
   linux-image-aws                 6.17.0-1015.15
   linux-image-aws-6.17            6.17.0-1015.15
   linux-image-aws-64k             6.17.0-1015.15
   linux-image-aws-64k-6.17        6.17.0-1015.15
   linux-image-generic             6.17.0-29.29
   linux-image-generic-6.17        6.17.0-29.29
   linux-image-generic-64k         6.17.0-29.29
   linux-image-generic-64k-6.17    6.17.0-29.29
   linux-image-oracle              6.17.0-1014.14
   linux-image-oracle-6.17         6.17.0-1014.14
   linux-image-oracle-64k          6.17.0-1014.14
   linux-image-oracle-64k-6.17     6.17.0-1014.14
   linux-image-raspi               6.17.0-1017.17
   linux-image-raspi-6.17          6.17.0-1017.17
   linux-image-realtime            6.17.0-1013.15
   linux-image-realtime-6.17       6.17.0-1013.15
   linux-image-realtime-hwe-24.04  6.17.0-1013.15
   linux-image-realtime-hwe-24.04-edge  6.17.0-1013.15
   linux-image-virtual             6.17.0-29.29
   linux-image-virtual-6.17        6.17.0-29.29

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
   linux-image-6.17.0-1013-realtime  6.17.0-1013.15~24.04.1
                                   Available with Ubuntu Pro
   linux-image-6.17.0-1023-oem     6.17.0-1023.23
   linux-image-6.17.0-29-generic   6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1
   linux-image-6.17.0-29-generic-64k  6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1
   linux-image-generic-6.17        6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1
   linux-image-generic-64k-6.17    6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1
   linux-image-generic-64k-hwe-24.04  6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1
   linux-image-generic-hwe-24.04   6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1
   linux-image-oem-24.04           6.17.0-1023.23
   linux-image-oem-24.04a          6.17.0-1023.23
   linux-image-oem-24.04b          6.17.0-1023.23
   linux-image-oem-24.04c          6.17.0-1023.23
   linux-image-oem-24.04d          6.17.0-1023.23
   linux-image-oem-6.17            6.17.0-1023.23
   linux-image-realtime-6.17       6.17.0-1013.15~24.04.1
                                   Available with Ubuntu Pro
   linux-image-realtime-hwe-24.04  6.17.0-1013.15~24.04.1
                                   Available with Ubuntu Pro
   linux-image-virtual-6.17        6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1
   linux-image-virtual-hwe-24.04   6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make
all the necessary changes.

ATTENTION: Due to an unavoidable ABI change the kernel updates have
been given a new version number, which requires you to recompile and
reinstall all third party kernel modules you might have installed.
Unless you manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages
(e.g. linux-generic, linux-generic-lts-RELEASE, linux-virtual,
linux-powerpc), a standard system upgrade will automatically perform
this as well.