Linux: NULL Pointer Dereference
CVE-2026-53284 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 ff49321d29770e2d41bec65b43099997af5d2eaa, 7107b047e709ad258f7c29a342266a8e3653f370, d915195c2f57794ed8ec4bf131bcead4b5dc29c1 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 0.48% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to ff49321d29770e2d41bec65b43099997af5d2eaa or 7107b047e709ad258f7c29a342266a8e3653f370 or d915195c2f57794ed8ec4bf131bcead4b5dc29c1 or 9ebb7eba1237dc198768b9c76506a79f924c82bb, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.18.33 or 7.0.10, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 663dfbb07774e0fe1049e8db3054a08500122f18 up to, but not including, ff49321d29770e2d41bec65b43099997af5d2eaa; 663dfbb07774e0fe1049e8db3054a08500122f18 up to, but not including, 7107b047e709ad258f7c29a342266a8e3653f370; 663dfbb07774e0fe1049e8db3054a08500122f18 up to, but not including, d915195c2f57794ed8ec4bf131bcead4b5dc29c1; 663dfbb07774e0fe1049e8db3054a08500122f18 up to, but not including, 9ebb7eba1237dc198768b9c76506a79f924c82bb; 663dfbb07774e0fe1049e8db3054a08500122f18 up to, but not including, df03d67dc63722845cb9fe59d815d1225b04fd54; 663dfbb07774e0fe1049e8db3054a08500122f18 up to, but not including, 4066c55e109475a06d18a1f127c939d551211956; 3.19 | ff49321d29770e2d41bec65b43099997af5d2eaa, 7107b047e709ad258f7c29a342266a8e3653f370, d915195c2f57794ed8ec4bf131bcead4b5dc29c1, 9ebb7eba1237dc198768b9c76506a79f924c82bb, df03d67dc63722845cb9fe59d815d1225b04fd54, 4066c55e109475a06d18a1f127c939d551211956 |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 3.19 up to, but not including, 6.18.33; 6.19 up to, but not including, 7.0.10; 7.1 | 6.18.33, 7.0.10 |
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
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- NoneNothing can be modified.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by CNA.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: only release the dirty pages io tree after successful writes [WARNING] With extra warning on dirty extent buffers at umount (aka, the next patch in the series), test case generic/388 can trigger the following warning about dirty extent buffers at unmount time: BTRFS critical (device dm-2 state E): emergency shutdown BTRFS error (device dm-2 state E): error while writing out transaction: -30 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state E): Skipping commit of aborted transaction. BTRFS error (device dm-2 state EA): Transaction 9 aborted (error -30) BTRFS: error (device dm-2 state EA) in cleanup_transaction:2068: errno=-30 Readonly filesystem BTRFS info (device dm-2 state EA): forced readonly BTRFS info (device dm-2 state EA): last unmount of filesystem 4fbf2e15-f941-49a0-bc7c-716315d2777c ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: disk-io.c:3311 at invalidate_and_check_btree_folios+0xfd/0x1ca [btrfs], CPU#8: umount/914368 CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 914368 Comm: umount Tainted: G OE 7.1.0-rc1-custom+ #372 PREEMPT(full) 2de38db8d1deae71fde295430a0ff3ab98ccf596 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS unknown 02/02/2022 RIP: 0010:invalidate_and_check_btree_folios+0xfd/0x1ca [btrfs] Call Trace: <TASK> close_ctree+0x52e/0x574 [btrfs d2f0b1cd330d1287e7a9919d112eadfc0e914efd] generic_shutdown_super+0x89/0x1a0 kill_anon_super+0x16/0x40 btrfs_kill_super+0x16/0x20 [btrfs d2f0b1cd330d1287e7a9919d112eadfc0e914efd] deactivate_locked_super+0x2d/0xb0 cleanup_mnt+0xdc/0x140 task_work_run+0x5a/0xa0 exit_to_user_mode_loop+0x123/0x4b0 do_syscall_64+0x243/0x7c0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30539776 owner 9 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30621696 owner 257 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30638080 owner 258 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30654464 owner 7 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30703616 owner 2 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30720000 owner 10 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30736384 owner 4 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 BTRFS warning (device dm-2 state EA): unable to release extent buffer 30752768 owner 11 gen 9 refs 2 flags 0x7 I'm using a stripped down version, which seems to trigger the warning more reliably: _fsstress_pid="" workload() { dmesg -C mkfs.btrfs -f -K $dev > /dev/null echo 1 > /sys/kernel/debug/clear_warn_once mount $dev $mnt $fsstress -w -n 1024 -p 4 -d $mnt & _fsstress_pid=$! sleep 0 $godown $mnt pkill --echo -PIPE fsstress > /dev/null wait $_fsstress_pid unset _fsstress_pid umount $mnt if dmesg | grep -q "WARNING"; then fail fi } for (( i = 0; i < $runtime; i++ )); do echo "=== $i/$runtime ===" workload done [CAUSE] Inside btrfs_write_and_wait_transaction(), we first try to write all dirty ebs, then wait for them to finish. After that we call btrfs_extent_io_tree_release() to free all extent states from dirty_pages io tree. However if we hit an error from btrfs_write_marked_extent(), then we still call btrfs_extent_io_tree_release() to clear that dirty_pages io tree, which may contain dirty records that we haven't yet submitted. Furthermore, the later transaction cleanup path will utilize that dirty_pages io tree to properly cleanup those dirty ebs, but since it's already empty, no dirty ebs are properly cleaned up, thus will later trigger the warnings inside invalidate_btree_folios(). ---truncated---
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.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other references
Recent NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerabilities
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