NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98510

Vulnerability identifier: #VU156811

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 5.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98510

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service by triggering a kernel crash.

The vulnerability exists due to a null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel Xe graphics driver's virtual memory management when virtual machine teardown races with shared buffer object eviction in fault mode. A local user can trigger concurrent teardown and eviction operations to cause xe_pt_zap_ptes() to access an already-cleared page table root while external buffer object mappings remain linked, resulting in a kernel crash.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.17
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1015.16
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.17
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.17

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24a22fb3c731474b68e986af6804db450fb88617
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70fddc065ac80845ffd33095b3635d59883cf7e6
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba678c2b02e0d36b53deb5a6d5e5ea044d36def7
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bddaa5e4094c134452c29e20a26c4718827e4cb1

• NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel drm xe driver
• Ubuntu update for linux-oem-7.0
• Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp and more