CVE-2026-74266
Received Received - Intake

Null Pointer Dereference in Linux Kernel Traffic Control

Publication date: 2026-08-15

Last updated on: 2026-08-15

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: sch_dualpi2: Do not call qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog during peek before restoring qlen Whenever dualpi2 drops packets during peek, it calls qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog. An issue arises because it calls qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog before it reincrements the qlen. If qlen drops to zero, but peek returns an skb, the parent's qlen_notify callback will be executed even though dualpi2 still has 1 packet on the queue and, thus, mistakenly deactivates the parent's class which leads to a null-ptr-deref: [ 101.427314][ T599] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000009: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI [ 101.427755][ T599] KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000048-0x000000000000004f] [ 101.428048][ T599] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 599 Comm: ping Not tainted 7.1.0-rc5-00284-gbce53c430ed7 #102 PREEMPT(full) [ 101.428400][ T599] Hardware name: Bochs Bochs, BIOS Bochs 01/01/2011 [ 101.428608][ T599] RIP: 0010:qfq_dequeue (net/sched/sch_qfq.c:1150) sch_qfq [ 101.428821][ T599] Code: 00 fc ff df 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 46 0c 00 00 4c 8d 73 48 48 89 9d b8 02 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 4c 89 f2 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 2d 0c 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 4c 8b All code [ 101.429348][ T599] RSP: 0018:ffff8881110df4f0 EFLAGS: 00010216 [ 101.429541][ T599] RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: dffffc0000000000 [ 101.429763][ T599] RDX: 0000000000000009 RSI: 00000024c0000000 RDI: ffff88811436c2b0 [ 101.429985][ T599] RBP: ffff88811436c000 R08: ffff88811436c280 R09: 1ffff11021277523 [ 101.430206][ T599] R10: 1ffff11021277526 R11: 1ffff11021277527 R12: 00000024c0000000 [ 101.430423][ T599] R13: ffff88811436c2b8 R14: 0000000000000048 R15: 0000000020000000 [ 101.430642][ T599] FS: 00007f61813e1c40(0000) GS:ffff8881691ef000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 101.430913][ T599] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 101.431100][ T599] CR2: 00005651650850a8 CR3: 000000010ca0b000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0 [ 101.431320][ T599] PKRU: 55555554 [ 101.431433][ T599] Call Trace: [ 101.431544][ T599] <TASK> [ 101.431628][ T599] __qdisc_run (net/sched/sch_generic.c:322 net/sched/sch_generic.c:427 net/sched/sch_generic.c:445) [ 101.431792][ T599] ? dev_qdisc_enqueue (./include/trace/events/qdisc.h:49 (discriminator 22) net/core/dev.c:4176 (discriminator 22)) [ 101.431941][ T599] __dev_queue_xmit (./include/net/pkt_sched.h:120 ./include/net/pkt_sched.h:117 net/core/dev.c:4292 net/core/dev.c:4831) Fix this by only calling qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog in peek after the qlen is restored.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-15
Last Modified
2026-08-15
Generated
2026-08-15
AI Q&A
2026-08-15
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-74266
EUVD
EUVD-2026-59413

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel 7.1.0-rc5-00284-gbce53c430ed7

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Exploitability

CWE
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel's dualpi2 network scheduler involves a bug where qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog is called during peek before restoring the queue length (qlen). This causes the parent class to mistakenly deactivate while packets remain, leading to a null pointer dereference and system crash.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the Linux kernel's sch_dualpi2 qdisc implementation and requires kernel-level inspection. Detection involves checking kernel logs for null pointer dereference errors related to qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog or sch_dualpi2. Use commands like dmesg | grep -i 'null-ptr-deref' or journalctl -k | grep -i 'qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog' to identify crashes.

Impact Analysis

This flaw can cause kernel crashes (oops) due to null pointer dereference, leading to denial of service. Systems using affected Linux kernel versions with dualpi2 traffic control may become unresponsive or reboot unexpectedly.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the kernel patch that fixes the issue by ensuring qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog is called only after qlen is restored in the peek operation. Update to a patched kernel version where this issue is resolved. Monitor kernel logs for any signs of exploitation or crashes.

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