CVE-2026-46284

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Kernel Command Line Parameter Handling Flaw in Linux HugeTLB

Publication date: 2026-06-08

Last updated on: 2026-07-08

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix early boot crash on parameters without '=' separator If hugepages, hugepagesz, or default_hugepagesz are specified on the kernel command line without the '=' separator, early parameter parsing passes NULL to hugetlb_add_param(), which dereferences it in strlen() and can crash the system during early boot. Reject NULL values in hugetlb_add_param() and return -EINVAL instead.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-06-08

Last Modified

2026-07-08

Generated

2026-07-19

AI Q&A

2026-06-08

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-17

NVD

CVE-2026-46284

EUVD

EUVD-2026-35149

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.19 (inc) to 7.0.4 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.15 (inc) to 6.18.27 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-476	The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability occurs in the Linux kernel's hugepage parameter parsing during early boot. When parameters like hugepages, hugepagesz, or default_hugepagesz are specified on the kernel command line without an '=' separator, the parsing function passes a NULL value to hugetlb_add_param(). This NULL value is then dereferenced in a strlen() call, causing the system to crash during early boot.

The fix involves rejecting NULL values in hugetlb_add_param() and returning an error code (-EINVAL) instead of allowing the crash.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause the system to crash during early boot if certain hugepage parameters are incorrectly specified without an '=' separator. This means that the system may fail to start properly, leading to potential downtime and disruption of services.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, ensure that kernel command line parameters for hugepages, hugepagesz, or default_hugepagesz are specified with the '=' separator.

Avoid specifying these parameters without the '=' sign to prevent early boot crashes caused by NULL pointer dereferences.

If possible, update your Linux kernel to a version where this issue has been fixed, which rejects NULL values in hugetlb_add_param() and returns -EINVAL instead.

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