Description
A local attacker with control over GRUB's configuration can bypass lockdown restrictions when booting with Secure Boot and load an unsigned GRUB module, while GRUB continues to report lockdown is enabled.
The vulnerability is caused by insufficient validation of the MMIO base address passed to the GRUB serial command. GRUB does not validate that the base address corresponds to a UART device, rather than being an arbitrary memory address. This allows an attacker to trick GRUB into writing non-arbitrary data at an attacker-controlled address, including resetting the grub_file_verifiers list in a way that disables the subsequent verification of loaded modules.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| GNU | grub2 | 2.12 – < 2.16 | 2.16 |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | grub2 | 2.14-4 | — |
| Debian 13 | grub2 | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | grub2-signed +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | grub2-signed +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | grub2-signed +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | grub2-signed +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | grub2-signed +1 | No fix yet | — |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | grub2-signed +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | grub2-signed +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | grub2 +1 | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 1
- WID-SEC-2026-3733 Grub: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Umgehen von Sicherheitsvorkehrungen und die Ausführung von Code BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 4, 2026