---
id: CVE-2026-81013
title: 'platform/x86: hp-bioscfg: fix heap OOB read on empty password write'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  platform/x86: hp-bioscfg: fix heap OOB read on empty password write

  validate_password_input() computes length = strlen(buf) and then
  checks buf[length - 1] to strip a …
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: vendor
cwe:
  - CWE-125
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 <
    21243c15e1d31f0df1517435e3a7784747f19043
  - >-
    Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 <
    cecb8154bd5fa6c8ddbd1a4e8216bbc0f0eb9828
  - >-
    Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 <
    0f9aad08424882dd5714b53d29ae044060890752
  - >-
    Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 <
    b699e5c1f63a9e79946c35598c8a6f7af2c356b8
  - >-
    Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 <
    2b2ec354f905c14e3270e8ec3ab50f7d8ad73bab
  - Linux 6.6
published: '2026-09-11'
updated: '2026-10-19'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-19T08:46:38.578Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-81013'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/21243c15e1d31f0df1517435e3a7784747f19043'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cecb8154bd5fa6c8ddbd1a4e8216bbc0f0eb9828'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f9aad08424882dd5714b53d29ae044060890752'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b699e5c1f63a9e79946c35598c8a6f7af2c356b8'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2b2ec354f905c14e3270e8ec3ab50f7d8ad73bab'
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-81013.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-81013'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2532351'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-81013'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-81013'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-81013.mbox
tags:
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
epss: 0.00181
epssPercentile: 0.07572
ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T15:23:07.454Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

platform/x86: hp-bioscfg: fix heap OOB read on empty password write

validate_password_input() computes length = strlen(buf) and then
checks buf[length - 1] to strip a trailing newline, without checking
that length is nonzero first. Writing an empty string (a bare '\n')
to current_password or new_password gives length == 0, and
buf[length - 1] reads buf[-1], one byte before the heap allocation
holding the copied input.

KASAN confirms this directly:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in store_password_instance.constprop.0+0x223/0x2a0 [hp_bioscfg]
  Read of size 1 at addr ffff88811bd8da9f by task sh/13740
  ...
  store_password_instance.constprop.0+0x223/0x2a0 [hp_bioscfg]
  current_password_store+0x14/0x20 [hp_bioscfg]
  ...
  The buggy address is located 23 bytes to the right of
  allocated 8-byte region [ffff88811bd8da80, ffff88811bd8da88)

Reproduced identically via new_password_store. Execution continues
past the bad read (the garbage byte only affects whether "length" is
decremented by one), so the write completes and returns success; this
is a pure information read past the buffer, not a crash, but it is
still an out-of-bounds access KASAN correctly flags.

Fix by only checking buf[length - 1] when length is nonzero.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 < 21243c15e1d31f0df1517435e3a7784747f19043`
- `Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 < cecb8154bd5fa6c8ddbd1a4e8216bbc0f0eb9828`
- `Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 < 0f9aad08424882dd5714b53d29ae044060890752`
- `Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 < b699e5c1f63a9e79946c35598c8a6f7af2c356b8`
- `Linux >= 8646a3b5ee3a5b384a22a721f37c24274d974045 < 2b2ec354f905c14e3270e8ec3ab50f7d8ad73bab`
- `Linux 6.6`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · updated 2026-09-14 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-81013.json)