NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-99165
Published: October 29, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU158428
CSH Severity: Medium
CVSS v4: 8.2 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-99165
CWE-ID: CWE-476
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel SCTP send path when processing an output stream after a wait that releases the socket lock. A remote attacker can negotiate a reduced stream count during association establishment while a send operation is waiting to cause the sender to reuse a stream whose extension has been freed, triggering a kernel fault.
The association-establishment wait scenario requires message interleaving to be enabled.
Affected software
Linux kernel
Debian Linux
linux (Debian package)
Debian Linux
linux (Debian package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-99165
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux (Debian package) - update to 6.12.115-2
linux (Debian package) - update to 6.12.115-2