MediumCVE-2026-98756

    Linux Kernel: NULL Pointer Dereference (CVE-2026-98756)

    Published Last modified Sources: Debian LTS, BSI, Msrc Update Guide, CVE.org

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    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: cdns3: Fix NULL pointer dereference in cdns3_pci_probe The Cadence USBSS controller is a two-function PCI device. The first probed function allocates the driver data and stores it with pci_set_drvdata(), while the second function reuses it via pci_get_drvdata() when pci_is_enabled() reports that the first function has already been probed.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 5.10.273, Linux Kernel to version 5.15.224, Linux Kernel to version 6.1.191.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.4..5.10.273
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.11..5.15.224
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.191
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.160
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.113
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.56
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.2.10
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 5.10.273
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.224
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.191
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.160
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.113
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.56
    • Linux Kernel 7.2.10
    • Linux Kernel 7.3

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    4.1

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    4.1

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Debian LTS, BSI, Msrc Update Guide, CVE.org

    0.2 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 7.1

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Medium
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    50.91 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    4.1 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    4.1
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.2 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    7.1
    Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: cdns3: Fix NULL pointer dereference in cdns3_pci_probe The Cadence USBSS controller is a two-function PCI device. The first probed function allocates the driver data and stores it with pci_set_drvdata(), while the second function reuses it via pci_get_drvdata() when pci_is_enabled() reports that the first function has already been probed. When the second function is probed while the first one has been enabled but has not yet set its driver data, pci_get_drvdata() returns NULL, and the subsequent wrap->devfn assignment dereferences a NULL pointer and crashes the kernel. logs: Call trace: cdns3_pci_probe+0xa4/0x300 local_pci_probe+0x44/0xa8 pci_call_probe+0x54/0x158 pci_device_probe+0x84/0x100 really_probe+0x184/0x3d0 __driver_probe_device+0x80/0x178 driver_probe_device+0x44/0xe8 __driver_attach+0xec/0x1f8 bus_for_each_dev+0x7c/0xe0 driver_attach+0x28/0x38 bus_add_driver+0x110/0x238 driver_register+0x64/0x128 __pci_register_driver+0x50/0x60 cdns3_pci_driver_init+0x28/0x38 do_one_initcall+0x5c/0x280 do_initcalls+0x104/0x1d8 kernel_init_freeable+0x140/0x218 kernel_init+0x28/0x1f8 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Return -EPROBE_DEFER in this case so that probing is retried after the first function has completed its probe.

    Source: Debian LTS Advisories, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, Microsoft Security Update Guide, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • 5.4 – < 5.10.273
    • 5.11 – < 5.15.224
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.191
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.56
    • 6.19 – < 7.2.10
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.113
    • —
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.160
    • 5.10.273
    • 5.15.224
    • 6.1.191
    • 6.18.56
    • 7.2.10
    • 6.12.113
    • 7.3
    • 6.6.160

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianlinux-6.12bookworm

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedLinux

      Show 4 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98756.json">CVE-2026-98756</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/399b18b18f54495eeeda8d88e039e6af27d020c9
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/88b473800ae11397e2e169aff2e17b041c040409
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc13243658da9ed3c4c94aaff77c36a10f441b89

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    2. Record modifiedLinux

      Show 2 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98756.json">CVE-2026-98756</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dbdd0ca9a7eac140697a366f698a0e2bb02a06a1

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    3. Record modifiedLinux

      1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98756.json">CVE-2026-98756</a>

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    4. ReceivedLinux

      Description added or changed

      Show 6 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: cdns3: Fix NULL pointer dereference in cdns3_pci_probe The Cadence USBSS controller is a two-function PCI device. The first probed function allocates the driver data and stores it with pci_set_drvdata(), while the second function reuses it via pci_get_drvdata() when pci_is_enabled() reports that the first function has already been probed. When the second function is probed while the first one has been enabled but has not yet set its driver data, pci_get_drvdata() returns NULL, and the subsequent wrap->devfn assignment dereferences a NULL pointer and crashes the kernel. logs: Call trace: cdns3_pci_probe+0xa4/0x300 local_pci_probe+0x44/0xa8 pci_call_probe+0x54/0x158 pci_device_probe+0x84/0x100 really_probe+0x184/0x3d0 __driver_probe_device+0x80/0x178 driver_probe_device+0x44/0xe8 __driver_attach+0xec/0x1f8 bus_for_each_dev+0x7c/0xe0 driver_attach+0x28/0x38 bus_add_driver+0x110/0x238 driver_register+0x64/0x128 __pci_register_driver+0x50/0x60 cdns3_pci_driver_init+0x28/0x38 do_one_initcall+0x5c/0x280 do_initcalls+0x104/0x1d8 kernel_init_freeable+0x140/0x218 kernel_init+0x28/0x1f8 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Return -EPROBE_DEFER in this case so that probing is retried after the first function has completed its probe.
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98756.json">CVE-2026-98756</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/45b606418bae73c7cde9f0e57e5b0977c816a7c0
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/549c04df02f1bb5a10342f32e2c87f5d27c97279
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d16046f1ace2691b6a946f022fe6dc215936880b
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e5052f2c5c73c1dcca42bafc0bc737af2b2af059

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

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