CVE-2026-45965
Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete
Kernel NULL Pointer Dereference in Linux Kernel

Publication date: 2026-05-27

Last updated on: 2026-06-16

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: fix invalid deref of rawdata when export_binary is unset If the export_binary parameter is disabled on runtime, profiles that were loaded before that will still have their rawdata stored in apparmorfs, with a symbolic link to the rawdata on the policy directory. When one of those profiles are replaced, the rawdata is set to NULL, but when trying to resolve the symbolic links to rawdata for that profile, it will try to dereference profile->rawdata->name when profile->rawdata is now NULL causing an oops. Fix it by checking if rawdata is set. [ 168.653080] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000088 [ 168.657420] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 168.660619] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 168.663613] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 168.665450] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 168.667836] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 1729 Comm: ls Not tainted 6.19.0-rc7+ #3 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 168.672308] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 168.679327] RIP: 0010:rawdata_get_link_base.isra.0+0x23/0x330 [ 168.682768] Code: 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 0f 1f 44 00 00 55 48 89 e5 41 57 41 56 41 55 41 54 53 48 83 ec 18 48 89 55 d0 48 85 ff 0f 84 e3 01 00 00 <48> 83 3c 25 88 00 00 00 00 0f 84 d4 01 00 00 49 89 f6 49 89 cc e8 [ 168.689818] RSP: 0018:ffffcdcb8200fb80 EFLAGS: 00010282 [ 168.690871] RAX: ffffffffaee74ec0 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffffb0120158 [ 168.692251] RDX: ffffcdcb8200fbe0 RSI: ffff88c187c9fa80 RDI: ffff88c186c98a80 [ 168.693593] RBP: ffffcdcb8200fbc0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 168.694941] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88c186c98a80 [ 168.696289] R13: 00007fff005aaa20 R14: 0000000000000080 R15: ffff88c188f4fce0 [ 168.697637] FS: 0000790e81c58280(0000) GS:ffff88c20a957000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 168.699227] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 168.700349] CR2: 0000000000000088 CR3: 000000012fd3e000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 [ 168.701696] Call Trace: [ 168.702325] <TASK> [ 168.702995] rawdata_get_link_data+0x1c/0x30 [ 168.704145] vfs_readlink+0xd4/0x160 [ 168.705152] do_readlinkat+0x114/0x180 [ 168.706214] __x64_sys_readlink+0x1e/0x30 [ 168.708653] x64_sys_call+0x1d77/0x26b0 [ 168.709525] do_syscall_64+0x81/0x500 [ 168.710348] ? do_statx+0x72/0xb0 [ 168.711109] ? putname+0x3e/0x80 [ 168.711845] ? __x64_sys_statx+0xb7/0x100 [ 168.712711] ? x64_sys_call+0x10fc/0x26b0 [ 168.713577] ? do_syscall_64+0xbf/0x500 [ 168.714412] ? do_user_addr_fault+0x1d2/0x8d0 [ 168.715404] ? irqentry_exit+0xb2/0x740 [ 168.716359] ? exc_page_fault+0x90/0x1b0 [ 168.717307] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
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Meta Information
Published
2026-05-27
Last Modified
2026-06-16
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-05-27
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2026-45965
EUVD
EUVD-2026-32249
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 7 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel From 6.13 (inc) to 6.18.14 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.19 (inc) to 6.19.4 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.2 (inc) to 6.6.128 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.7 (inc) to 6.12.75 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 5.11 (inc) to 5.15.202 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.165 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 4.17 (inc) to 5.10.252 (exc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-476 The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's AppArmor security module. It occurs when the export_binary parameter is disabled at runtime. Profiles loaded before disabling export_binary still have their rawdata stored with symbolic links. When one of these profiles is replaced, the rawdata pointer is set to NULL, but the system tries to dereference this NULL pointer when resolving symbolic links, causing a kernel crash (NULL pointer dereference). The fix involves checking if rawdata is set before dereferencing it.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause a kernel crash (kernel oops) due to a NULL pointer dereference in the AppArmor module. This can lead to system instability or denial of service, as the kernel may become unresponsive or reboot unexpectedly when the issue is triggered.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability manifests as a kernel NULL pointer dereference (oops) related to AppArmor profiles when the export_binary parameter is disabled at runtime.

Detection can be done by monitoring kernel logs for oops messages indicating a NULL pointer dereference in AppArmor, specifically messages similar to:

  • [ 168.653080] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000088
  • [ 168.667836] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 1729 Comm: ls Not tainted ...

You can use the following commands to check for such kernel oops messages:

  • dmesg | grep -i 'NULL pointer dereference'
  • journalctl -k | grep -i 'NULL pointer dereference'
  • grep -i 'apparmor' /var/log/kern.log

Additionally, checking the status of the AppArmor export_binary parameter and loaded profiles may help identify if the system is in a vulnerable state.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, ensure that the Linux kernel is updated to a version where the AppArmor fix for invalid dereference of rawdata when export_binary is unset has been applied.

If updating the kernel immediately is not possible, avoid disabling the export_binary parameter at runtime or reload AppArmor profiles after changing this parameter to prevent stale rawdata symbolic links.

Monitoring kernel logs for oops messages and avoiding operations that replace AppArmor profiles while export_binary is disabled can reduce the risk of triggering the vulnerability.

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