Linux Kernel up to 6.12.108/6.18.49/7.2.3 dm-stats dm_stat_free 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.
4.5	$0-$5k	0.43+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.108/6.18.49/7.2.3. This affects the function dm_stat_free of the component dm-stats. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-80963. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.108/6.18.49/7.2.3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function dm_stat_free of the component dm-stats. 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 confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm-stats: fix a crash if allocation of per-cpu data fails If "dm_kvzalloc(percpu_alloc_size, cpu_to_node(cpu))" fails, the code jumps to the "out" label and calls dm_stat_free. dm_stat_free does "for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) { dm_kvfree(s->stat_percpu[cpu][0].histogram, s->histogram_alloc_size);", which crashes with NULL pointer dereference if s->stat_percpu[cpu] is NULL. This commit fixes the bug by testing s->stat_percpu[cpu] for NULL before using it.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-80963 since 08/26/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.12.109, 6.18.50, 7.2.4 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch c3f211b7a277dd404b4e7d23095be964b5b46a27/74210fa072960a18bb0eead487585452af722e4f/0c8f7870ed3ebd512f090d7714cc2c556b9e5c75/cc87e26d9cce22061dc21e51e11afef29dbbc36a is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.108
• 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
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3

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: 4.7
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.5

VulDB Base Score: 4.7
VulDB Temp Score: 4.5
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 6.12.109/6.18.50/7.2.4/7.3-rc1
Patch: c3f211b7a277dd404b4e7d23095be964b5b46a27/74210fa072960a18bb0eead487585452af722e4f/0c8f7870ed3ebd512f090d7714cc2c556b9e5c75/cc87e26d9cce22061dc21e51e11afef29dbbc36a

Timelineinfo

08/26/2026 CVE reserved
09/11/2026 +16 days Advisory disclosed
09/11/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/11/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-80963 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-80963
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-402679

Entryinfo

Created: 09/11/2026 23:37
Changes: 09/11/2026 23:37 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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