NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98849

Vulnerability identifier: #VU157218

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 5.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98849

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local privileged user to cause a denial of service through a kernel NULL pointer dereference.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel PFCP driver's socket cleanup when network device registration fails after device initialization succeeds. A local privileged user can trigger PFCP network device creation under these failure conditions to cause the error path to release an already released and cleared socket, resulting in a denial of service.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gke (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-43.43
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-43.43.1
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.18
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.19
linux-azure (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1020.21
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1023.23
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1018.18
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1018.18
linux-gke (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1010.11
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1019.19
linux-aws-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f17d2e3dd9cda3ee6d94033d5e5489af168920d
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2cee3603ec1d9b5ec7f2121ea3efe9488e906f46
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4b8ce1686dea1a10805a0807bf492409b0300ee1
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dcb8f6a79c3360a440c399d85df465a6e59351f1

• NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel net driver
• Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp and more
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure
• Ubuntu update for linux-aws-7.0, linux-azure-fde, linux-azure-fde-7.0 and more
• Ubuntu update for linux-raspi