NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-64120
Published: July 20, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU138519
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-2026-64120
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 net/ethtool/phy.c when processing ethtool phy reply data after memory allocation failure. A local user can trigger memory allocation failures that leave string pointers NULL to cause a denial of service.
The issue can lead to a kernel panic when phy_reply_size() calls strlen() on a NULL name pointer.
How to mitigate CVE-2026-64120
Install security update from vendor's repository.