Global Register Variable Vulnerability in Linux Kernel Affects MIPS Architecture

CVE-2026-46250

What is CVE-2026-46250?

A vulnerability has been identified in the Linux kernel regarding the handling of the $gp register as a global variable on MIPS architecture. This issue arises when using LLVM, which incorrectly restores $gp if it detects any clobbering, conflicting with the expected behavior as per GCC's documentation. This results in potential crashes during kernel initialization due to an early crash in init_idle when the address of $gp points to the unrelocated kernel. Workarounds, including the use of inline assembly, have been proposed to mitigate the impact of this bug until a permanent fix is implemented.

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