CVE-2026-31660: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfc: pn533: allocate rx skb before consuming bytes pn532_receive

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfc: pn533: allocate rx skb before consuming bytes pn532_receive_buf() reports the number

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfc: pn533: allocate rx skb before consuming bytes pn532_receive_buf() reports the number of accepted bytes to the serdev core. The current code consumes bytes into recv_skb and may already hand a complete frame to pn533_recv_frame() before allocating a fresh receive buffer. If that alloc_skb() fails, the callback returns 0 even though it has already consumed bytes, and it leaves recv_skb as NULL for the next receive callback. That breaks the receive_buf() accounting contract and can also lead to a NULL dereference on the next skb_put_u8(). Allocate the receive skb lazily before consuming the next byte instead. If allocation fails, return the number of bytes already accepted.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.11%, higher than 1% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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