Null pointer dereference in Linux net/sched action deletion
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel from 4.19 is affected by a flaw in net/sched action deletion, where tcf_idr_delete_index checks an IDR lookup result only for NULL. An error pointer reserved by a concurrent classifier is then treated as a tc_action and dereferenced, causing a NULL pointer dereference and a kernel crash. The race occurs when an unlocked classifier removes an action while another deletion is in progress.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: reject IDR error pointers when deleting actions tcf_action_delete() drops the reference held by its lookup before calling tcf_idr_delete_index() with the saved action index. An unlocked classifier can remove that action and reserve the same IDR slot with ERR_PTR(-EBUSY) in between. tcf_idr_delete_index() only checks the lookup result for NULL. It therefore treats the reservation as a tc_action and dereferences tcfa_bindcnt. A hardware execution breakpoint was used to schedule the interleaving without changing the kernel source. KASAN reported this decoded trace: BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in tca_action_gd+0x5b9/0x1010 Read of size 4 at addr 0000000000000010 by task poc/150 Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000002 RIP: tca_action_gd+0x5c0/0x1010: arch_atomic_read at arch/x86/include/asm/atomic.h:23 raw_atomic_read at include/linux/atomic/atomic-arch-fallback.h:457 atomic_read at include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:33 tcf_idr_delete_index at net/sched/act_api.c:766 tcf_action_delete at net/sched/act_api.c:1859 tcf_del_notify at net/sched/act_api.c:2014 tca_action_gd at net/sched/act_api.c:2064 R13: 0000000000000010 R15: fffffffffffffff0 Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception R15 contains ERR_PTR(-EBUSY), and adding the tcfa_bindcnt offset produces the address in R13. With the guard applied, the same reproducer returned -ENOENT without a KASAN report or panic. Treat error pointers as absent and return -ENOENT.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade the Linux kernel to 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9 or 7.3, depending on the release branch in use. Red Hat lists no fix available yet for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 and for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5, and no fix planned for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-09 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98380
- 2026-10-09 Alias added: GHSA-j546-37mc-3c35
- 2026-10-11 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-11 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-01 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/39b751a210bf61a374afa82749afc7a77a08bf1d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd80a7519824b72c8fcfd3cc50cb93f7e2d90923
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bf076258aac4e0af69ef317656c31ce6444d647
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6c9f07bf8800171de2cd3f02815cebe1f4d45f2d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/259caa711b7688365676442e2fdb286b8aceaa80
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/968550a439f64bd1a6c0d88efb92e4f082f84a26
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a9551f26287debe6d8aa6e8841974661065b975f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c82b797abe668d0b668601a93ba2c0b071a63574
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98380 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98380 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-j546-37mc-3c35 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98380 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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