Linux Kernel up to 6.18.45/7.1.9 ovpn ovpn_crypto_kill_key null pointer dereference

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.0	$0-$5k	0.91-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.45/7.1.9. Affected is the function ovpn_crypto_kill_key of the component ovpn. Performing a manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-80520. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.45/7.1.9. This affects the function ovpn_crypto_kill_key of the component ovpn. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as 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. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovpn: fix NULL dereference when killing missing key ovpn_crypto_kill_key assumes both crypto slots are populated and dereferences each slot before checking it. That is not guaranteed: a peer can have only one installed key, and the kill path may be asked to remove a key that is not present. Read each slot once while holding the crypto state lock, check for NULL before looking at key_id, and only replace the slot that actually matches.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-80520 since 08/26/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack 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 08/26/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.46 or 7.1.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a47a080d06ee9d94dc6a2da0fc2b9beeeedb92b3/acf32a5dff082044cf0fd9492f3c10b7357c15ee/41d44ac7a61e2f74453af40d4fe1b82af9ea0ada is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4
• 7.1.5
• 7.1.6
• 7.1.7
• 7.1.8
• 7.1.9

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.0

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.0
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.46/7.1.10
Patch: a47a080d06ee9d94dc6a2da0fc2b9beeeedb92b3/acf32a5dff082044cf0fd9492f3c10b7357c15ee/41d44ac7a61e2f74453af40d4fe1b82af9ea0ada

Timelineinfo

08/26/2026 Advisory disclosed
08/26/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
08/26/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/26/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-80520 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-80520
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-395823

Entryinfo

Created: 08/26/2026 17:19
Changes: 08/26/2026 17:19 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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