Linux Kernel up to 6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 Block bio_poll 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.
4.2	$0-$5k	1.33-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. It has been classified as problematic. This affects the function bio_poll of the component Block. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-98821. The attack needs to be launched locally. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 and classified as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function bio_poll of the component Block. 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 integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: block: reject polled dio with user integrity metadata IOCB_HAS_METADATA leaves iocb->private as a uio_meta, while iocb_bio_iopoll() expects a bio. Since 2729a60bbfb9, metadata I/O always uses __blkdev_direct_IO(), which never publishes the bio for polling, so IOPOLL calls bio_poll() on the uio_meta. Reproducer: io_uring IOPOLL plus a PI attribute on an integrity device (scsi_debug dif=1 dix=1). KASAN reports: Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000004 KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000020-0x0000000000000027] RIP: 0010:bio_poll+0x9d/0x4b0 Call Trace: iocb_bio_iopoll+0x5b/0x80 io_uring_classic_poll+0xf3/0x140 io_do_iopoll+0x4e3/0xc00 io_iopoll_check+0x275/0x560 __do_sys_io_uring_enter+0x2e5/0x720 Return -EOPNOTSUPP when HIPRI is combined with user metadata.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-98821 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch c97ef13ad96be0e08af38dfa2ed40cded0b53e1b/dd33c03cefccdfcb223e9e6262643d64f8c1ae20/2a42e6fe1293f2e2d579c9fe5bbab056dd8b880e is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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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
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 6.18.54
• 6.18.55
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3
• 7.3-rc4
• 7.3-rc5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
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CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
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CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.2

VulDB Base Score: 4.4
VulDB Temp Score: 4.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
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💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

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

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

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

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.56/7.2.10/7.3-rc6
Patch: c97ef13ad96be0e08af38dfa2ed40cded0b53e1b/dd33c03cefccdfcb223e9e6262643d64f8c1ae20/2a42e6fe1293f2e2d579c9fe5bbab056dd8b880e

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/18/2026 +23 days Advisory disclosed
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98821 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98821
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-421825

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 18:11
Changes: 10/18/2026 18:11 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion

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