CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-46114NVD status: Undergoing Analysis

Linux: NULL Pointer Dereference

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-46114 is a high-severity NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 539cabb7b2d8ba70f55bba91db55faef11c2a6d7, d415fce3fcde6d7aeea6c25362a395b905811452, 105bf79a23b85cf3a761d18a4f3e10ce88526bc1 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.47% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to 539cabb7b2d8ba70f55bba91db55faef11c2a6d7 or d415fce3fcde6d7aeea6c25362a395b905811452 or 105bf79a23b85cf3a761d18a4f3e10ce88526bc1 or 7ec1ed4747f5f99f8b797bb438c5efd36079fad5, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 6.6.140 or 6.12.88 or 6.18.30 or 7.0.7, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinux034e285f8b99062a0cf29112e1232154a6a44aa5 up to, but not including, 539cabb7b2d8ba70f55bba91db55faef11c2a6d7; 034e285f8b99062a0cf29112e1232154a6a44aa5 up to, but not including, d415fce3fcde6d7aeea6c25362a395b905811452; 034e285f8b99062a0cf29112e1232154a6a44aa5 up to, but not including, 105bf79a23b85cf3a761d18a4f3e10ce88526bc1; 034e285f8b99062a0cf29112e1232154a6a44aa5 up to, but not including, 7ec1ed4747f5f99f8b797bb438c5efd36079fad5; 034e285f8b99062a0cf29112e1232154a6a44aa5 up to, but not including, 1114c87aa6f195cf07da55a27b2122ae26557b26; 6.2539cabb7b2d8ba70f55bba91db55faef11c2a6d7, d415fce3fcde6d7aeea6c25362a395b905811452, 105bf79a23b85cf3a761d18a4f3e10ce88526bc1, 7ec1ed4747f5f99f8b797bb438c5efd36079fad5, 1114c87aa6f195cf07da55a27b2122ae26557b26
LinuxLinux Kernel6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.140; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.12.88; 6.13 up to, but not including, 6.18.30; 6.19 up to, but not including, 7.0.7; 7.16.6.140, 6.12.88, 6.18.30, 7.0.7

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
NoneNothing can be modified.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N. Scored by CNA.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/rxe: Reject non-8-byte ATOMIC_WRITE payloads atomic_write_reply() at drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_resp.c unconditionally dereferences 8 bytes at payload_addr(pkt): value = *(u64 *)payload_addr(pkt); check_rkey() previously accepted an ATOMIC_WRITE request with pktlen == resid == 0 because the length validation only compared pktlen against resid. A remote initiator that sets the RETH length to 0 therefore reaches atomic_write_reply() with a zero-byte logical payload, and the responder reads sizeof(u64) bytes from past the logical end of the packet into skb->head tailroom, then writes those 8 bytes into the attacker's MR via rxe_mr_do_atomic_write(). That is a remote disclosure of 4 bytes of kernel tailroom per probe (the other 4 bytes are the packet's own trailing ICRC). IBA oA19-28 defines ATOMIC_WRITE as exactly 8 bytes. Anything else is protocol-invalid. Hoist a strict length check into check_rkey() so the responder never reaches the unchecked dereference, and keep the existing WRITE-family length logic for the normal RDMA WRITE path. Reproduced on mainline with an unmodified rxe driver: a sustained zero-length ATOMIC_WRITE probe repeatedly leaks adjacent skb head-buffer bytes into the attacker's MR, including recognisable kernel strings and partial kernel-direct-map pointer words. With this patch applied the responder rejects the PDU and the MR stays all-zero.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: NULL Pointer Dereference

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
  • Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
  • Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.

More NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerabilities (CWE-476)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerabilities

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