CVE-2026-98268 (GCVE-0-2026-98268)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-06 08:45 – Updated: 2026-10-06 08:45
VLAI
Title
perf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event() A typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf connection leads to freeing of the pmu pointer. The call log is something like: .. __pmu_detach_event pmu_detach_event pmu_detach_events perf_pmu_unregister .. __pmu_detach_event() sets event->pmu to null. When the perf connection finally is closed, the following stack trace is observed: Oops: general protection fault, kernel NULL pointer dereference ... RIP: 0010:_free_event+0x3e/0x370 ... Call Trace: ... perf_event_release_kernel+0x260/0x2d0 perf_release+0x12/0x20 A call to mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() inside _free_event() is the root cause of this crash. Adding a check inside is_include_guest_event() ensures we don't accidentally access a null pmu ptr. In addition to this, we will now call mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() before clearing the pmu ptr so that nr_include_guest_events counts are maintained correctly.
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
Linux CNA under the mitre root
CNA scorecard D 54/100 over 6619 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: eff95e170275d9e80b968f335cd03d0ac250d2d1 , < 7fa9a465ae8f07c0e4685db6edb6a6f984dbd784 (git)
Affected: eff95e170275d9e80b968f335cd03d0ac250d2d1 , < 88aed0422f39b22406f35f1e758cea25e7bbcfb5 (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 7.0
Unaffected: 0 , < 7.0 (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2.8 , ≤ 7.2.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.3-rc4 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
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          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu pointer. The call log is something\nlike:\n ..\n __pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_events\n perf_pmu_unregister\n ..\n\n__pmu_detach_event() sets event-\u003epmu to null. When the perf connection\nfinally is closed, the following stack trace is observed:\n\n Oops: general protection fault, kernel NULL pointer dereference\n ...\n RIP: 0010:_free_event+0x3e/0x370\n ...\n Call Trace:\n ...\n perf_event_release_kernel+0x260/0x2d0\n perf_release+0x12/0x20\n\nA call to mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() inside _free_event() is the root\ncause of this crash. Adding a check inside is_include_guest_event() ensures\nwe don\u0027t accidentally access a null pmu ptr. In addition to this, we will\nnow call mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() before clearing the pmu ptr so that\nnr_include_guest_events counts are maintained correctly."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-06T08:45:30.917Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
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        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/88aed0422f39b22406f35f1e758cea25e7bbcfb5"
        }
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      "title": "perf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()",
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-98268",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-06T08:45:30.917Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:25:14.333Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-06T08:45:30.917Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu pointer. The call log is something\nlike:\n ..\n __pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_events\n perf_pmu_unregister\n ..\n\n__pmu_detach_event() sets event-\u003epmu to null. When the perf connection\nfinally is closed, the following stack trace is observed:\n\n Oops: general protection fault, kernel NULL pointer dereference\n ...\n RIP: 0010:_free_event+0x3e/0x370\n ...\n Call Trace:\n ...\n perf_event_release_kernel+0x260/0x2d0\n perf_release+0x12/0x20\n\nA call to mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() inside _free_event() is the root\ncause of this crash. Adding a check inside is_include_guest_event() ensures\nwe don\u0027t accidentally access a null pmu ptr. In addition to this, we will\nnow call mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() before clearing the pmu ptr so that\nnr_include_guest_events counts are maintained correctly."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-98268",
        "lastModified": "2026-10-06T09:18:16.227",
        "metrics": {},
        "published": "2026-10-06T09:18:16.227",
        "references": [
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        "vulnStatus": "Received"
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      "current_release_date": "2026-10-10T20:30:26+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-98268",
      "id": "CVE-2026-98268",
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      "product_status:known_affected": "91",
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      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: perf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98268.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
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      "current_release_date": "2026-10-07T16:28:15Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-98268",
      "id": "CVE-2026-98268",
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      "product_status:known_not_affected": "347",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2026-98268",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2026-98268.json",
      "version": "2"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

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