Linux Kernel regcache regcache_init null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel. The affected element is the function regcache_init of the component regcache. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-72453. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel (affected version unknown). Affected by this vulnerability is the function regcache_init of the component regcache. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: regcache: Do not overwrite error code when finalizing cache after error During regcache initialization, if an error occurs in the cache_ops->populate callback, and if cache operations include an exit callback, the error code from populate() is overwritten with the return value from exit(). This hides the error condition from the caller of regcache_init(), and can cause NULL pointer dereferences when the regcache is later accessed.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-72453 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Applying the patch 9f171aa115ec76be02c76c5765cd2c865279e34a/9108f7fa493b4c88cbc09503e0c164244456bad5 is able to eliminate this problem.

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion