Linux Kernel up to 6.6.156/6.12.109/6.18.51/7.2.5 XSK net/xdp/xsk.c __xsk_rcv 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.
9.5$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.156/6.12.109/6.18.51/7.2.5. Affected by this vulnerability is the function __xsk_rcv of the file net/xdp/xsk.c of the component XSK. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-90115. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.156/6.12.109/6.18.51/7.2.5. It has been classified as very critical. Affected is the function __xsk_rcv of the file net/xdp/xsk.c of the component XSK. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: fix NULL pointer dereference in __xsk_rcv() In the __xsk_rcv() multi-buffer path, xsk_buff_alloc() is called in a loop without checking its return value. xsk_buff_can_alloc() only counts fill queue entries without validating their addresses, so it can succeed while xsk_buff_alloc() rejects all remaining entries and returns NULL. Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000000 KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] RIP: 0010:__xsk_rcv+0x426/0xc20 (net/xdp/xsk.c:350) Call Trace: xsk_generic_rcv+0x26d/0x5f0 xdp_do_generic_redirect+0x3c5/0xcf0 do_xdp_generic+0x92f/0xe70 __netif_receive_skb_core.constprop.0+0xf7e/0x2b30 Fix this with a two-stage transaction. First allocate and stage all buffers required for the packet, recycling all staged buffers with xsk_buff_free() if any allocation fails. Only after this stage succeeds, copy the data, reserve the RX descriptors, and release the buffers in an error-free loop.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-90115 since 09/11/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/17/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch aaebce297efc3e3dccb98a6ff838cfaa47db08db/60d7d3559ce66e227e195e9463cdfed8077c8659/214fb79b0379cb0214905632a2537c0c33f594eb/8341bd3ff126d85bc8c4ed52eedcaa5b1a65f194/e37b2abca80473e106176e41712a369fd2f72117 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

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-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.6.157/6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1
Patch: aaebce297efc3e3dccb98a6ff838cfaa47db08db/60d7d3559ce66e227e195e9463cdfed8077c8659/214fb79b0379cb0214905632a2537c0c33f594eb/8341bd3ff126d85bc8c4ed52eedcaa5b1a65f194/e37b2abca80473e106176e41712a369fd2f72117

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/17/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-90115 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-90115
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-406626

Entryinfo

Created: 09/17/2026 19:31
Changes: 09/17/2026 19:31 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

Want to stay up to date on a daily basis?

Enable the mail alert feature now!