Bug 2521465 (CVE-2026-74633)

Summary: CVE-2026-74633 kernel: tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in module event cache removal
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: low Docs Contact:
Priority: low    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's tracing module. A local user can trigger a NULL pointer dereference by attempting to remove a specific event filter for an unloaded module. This vulnerability arises when a module-only event filter is cached with a null match, and a subsequent write operation passes this null value to a string comparison function. Successful exploitation leads to a system crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-22 15:46:54 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in module event cache removal

A module-only event filter such as ":mod:foo" is cached with a NULL
event_mod->match when foo has not been loaded. If a later write tries to
remove a specific match from the same module, remove_cache_mod() passes
the NULL cached match to strcmp(), causing a NULL pointer dereference.

The issue can be reproduced from userspace:

  echo ':mod:trace_events_kunit_missing' > /sys/kernel/tracing/set_event
  echo '!foo_bar:mod:trace_events_kunit_missing' >> /sys/kernel/tracing/set_event

The second write must be a concatenation (">>") to not include O_TRUNC as
that would cause ftrace_clear_events() to clear the cached modules lines.

The crash was reproduced on x86_64 QEMU while KUnit workers contended on
the event tracing path:

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
  #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
  RIP: 0010:strcmp+0x10/0x30
  Call Trace:
   __ftrace_set_clr_event_nolock+0x373/0x4a0
   ftrace_set_clr_event+0xf0/0x180
   ftrace_event_write+0xdf/0x110
   vfs_write+0xf6/0x440
   ksys_write+0x68/0xe0
   do_syscall_64+0xf9/0x540
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

Check event_mod->match before comparing it, consistent with the existing
NULL checks for the cached system and event fields. The mismatched removal
continues to return -EINVAL; a broad cached module filter is removed with
"!:mod:<module>".