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# Linux 7.0.6 is Out, and It Fully Patches the Dirty Frag Exploit
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/linux-fully-patches-dirty-frag-exploit/
- Published: 2026-05-12T11:35:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-15T06:41:45.000Z
- Description: Fedora and Pop!_OS have also pushed fixes. Here's what changed and how to get patched.
- Author: Sourav Rudra
- Tags: News

[Dirty Frag](https://itsfoss.com/news/dirty-frag-linux-exploit/) has been the talk of the town (*at least in Linux and open source circles*) recently. The LPE was inadvertently exposed to the public, catching the Linux project and the various distros off guard.

Thankfully, a proper patch is now out, landing in **Linux 7.0.6** and **Linux 6.18.29 LTS**. [Fedora](https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/update-to-fix-dirtyfrag-available/190864?ref=itsfoss.com) and [Pop!\_OS](https://system76.com/blog/post/linux-zero-day-dirty-frag-and-copy-fail-vulnerability-fixes-released?ref=itsfoss.com) have already pushed their own fixes too.

## What's the fix?

The patch, authored by [Hyunwoo Kim](https://github.com/V4bel?ref=itsfoss.com), the same researcher who found and disclosed Dirty Frag, addresses [CVE-2026-43500](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43500&ref=itsfoss.com), which now carries **a CVSS score of 7.8 HIGH** over on the [National Vulnerability Database](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43500?ref=itsfoss.com).

The root cause traces back to a 2019 commit that left two packet types unaccounted for in the [rxrpc](https://docs.kernel.org/networking/rxrpc.html?ref=itsfoss.com) handling path, ones with pages fed in through `splice()` and ones with fragment chains attached.

The kernel did not treat either as shared memory, so it skipped making a safe copy and decrypted them in place. That left a window for a local attacker to reach in from userspace and tamper with those pages while decryption was happening, which is enough to get [root](https://www.baeldung.com/linux/root-user-directory-access?ref=itsfoss.com).

The fix extends the existing check in two rxrpc functions to also catch those two cases, so they get copied to a private buffer before decryption like they should have been all along.

Linus Torvalds merged it [on May 10](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=aa54b1d27fe0c2b78e664a34fd0fdf7cd1960d71&ref=itsfoss.com), Linux 7.0.6 was out the following day, and the 6.18.29 LTS kernel got it too.

You can get the tarball for 7.0.6 over at [kernel.org](https://www.kernel.org/?ref=itsfoss.com). This is intended for those who have the skill to install it manually, and if you are on an Ubuntu-based distro, [we have a guide](https://itsfoss.com/upgrade-linux-kernel-ubuntu/) on how to do that.

Just keep in mind that **this is a risky process to go through**; only do so if you have backed up your data.

[Linux Kernel 7.0.6](https://www.kernel.org/?ref=itsfoss.com)

## For Fedora and Pop!\_OS users

Both distros had fixes out before 7.0.6 was officially released.

### Fedora

Fedora kernel maintainer [Justin Forbes](https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/u/jforbes?ref=itsfoss.com) announced earlier that the fix was already being pushed to the stable branch. **Fedora 43 and Fedora 44 get it with the 7.0.4 kernel**, and **Fedora 42 users with 6.19.14-101**.

Justin also says that they skipped an update to 7.0.5 for F43 and F44, as the fix was already implemented in their 7.0.4 builds.

To get it on my **Fedora Workstation 43** setup, I first ran this command to get a list of any available updates:

```
sudo dnf update
```

![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2026/05/fedora-workstation-43-dirty-frag-patch-1.png)

![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2026/05/fedora-workstation-43-dirty-frag-patch-2.png)

**Getting the patched kernel on Fedora Workstation 43.*

After verifying that I was getting the patched⁣ `x86_64 7.0.4-100.fc43` kernel, I ran the following command to get the upgrade and pressed "*Y*" when prompted:

📋

Linux kernel 7.0.6 is rolling out for Fedora 43, so update to that!

```
sudo dnf upgrade
```

### Pop!\_OS

For people running the [LTS](https://itsfoss.com/long-term-support-lts/) releases of Pop!\_OS, [22.04](https://itsfoss.com/news/pop-os-22-04-release/) and [24.04](https://itsfoss.com/news/pop-os-24-04-review/), System76 has released kernel updates covering both Dirty Frag CVEs. The `esp4` and `esp6` modules tied to the second CVE were patched and are said to be safe to re-enable.

For *rxrpc*, they went with disabling the module rather than patching it and are holding off on re-enabling it.

You can get the fixes by running:

```
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
```

Remember to reboot after the above is done running with:

```
sudo reboot
```

For further reading, [our earlier Dirty Frag coverage](https://itsfoss.com/news/dirty-frag-linux-exploit/) has the full scoop on the exploit and the temporary workarounds from before the fix was available.