NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-45846
Published: May 28, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU132652
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-45846
CWE-ID: CWE-476
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vendor: Linux Foundation
Affected software:
Linux kernel
Linux kernel
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference in bareudp_fill_metadata_dst() when processing Open vSwitch packet execution on a bareudp device that is down. A local user can send a crafted netlink request to trigger a kernel crash and cause a denial of service.
The issue occurs on the IPv6 path when the code uses bareudp->sock after it has been cleared during device shutdown.
How to mitigate CVE-2026-45846
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Sources
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/35a115a204be08f97450b0389413e218268ef4a2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/638905520fc4fae6a80991563f264131545ba3df
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74a02921c48fcd35a7881956c9e5c52b86595f5d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a0f4e4e8e0f5e24ddd83e3d1221732621cf34636
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa6c6d9ee064aabfede4402fd1283424e649ca19