Bug 2492400 (CVE-2026-53032)

Summary: CVE-2026-53032 kernel: bpf: Fix NULL deref in map_kptr_match_type for scalar regs
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) subsystem. This vulnerability occurs in the map_kptr_match_type function when a scalar register is stored into a kernel pointer (kptr) slot. Due to an incorrect order of checks, the system attempts to access a null pointer, specifically a BPF Type Format (BTF) definition that does not exist for scalar registers. This null pointer dereference can lead to a system crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-06-24 18:10:01 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf: Fix NULL deref in map_kptr_match_type for scalar regs

Commit ab6c637ad027 ("bpf: Fix a bpf_kptr_xchg() issue with local
kptr") refactored map_kptr_match_type() to branch on btf_is_kernel()
before checking base_type(). A scalar register stored into a kptr
slot has no btf, so the btf_is_kernel(reg->btf) call dereferences
NULL.

Move the base_type() != PTR_TO_BTF_ID guard before any reg->btf
access.

Comment 1 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-06-26 14:32:32 UTC
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026062454-CVE-2026-53032-464e@gregkh/T