Linux Kernel: NULL Pointer Dereference (CVE-2026-99175)
Published Last modified Sources: Debian, BSI, Msrc Update Guide, CVE.org
What is affected, what to do
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fsnotify: prevent mark additions during connector teardown fsnotify_destroy_marks() keeps a reference to its current mark while it drops conn->lock to destroy the mark. This stabilizes the forward-walk cursor, but does not prevent a new mark from being inserted before it.
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 4.12..5.10.273 - Linux Kernel
lt 5.11..5.15.224 - Linux Kernel
lt 5.16..6.1.191 - Linux Kernel
lt 6.2..6.6.161 - Linux Kernel
lt 6.7..6.12.115 - Linux Kernel
lt 6.13..6.18.59 - Linux Kernel
lt 6.19..7.2.13
- Linux Kernel
- Fixed in
- Linux Kernel
5.10.273 - Linux Kernel
5.15.224 - Linux Kernel
6.1.191 - Linux Kernel
6.6.161 - Linux Kernel
6.12.115 - Linux Kernel
6.18.59 - Linux Kernel
7.2.13 - Linux Kernel
7.3
- Linux Kernel
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Metrics
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Priority
No value is available for this vulnerability.
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CVSS v3
No value is available for this vulnerability.
0.2 %
EPSS score
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 7.4
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Not rated
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- 30.43 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
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- 7.4
- 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: fsnotify: prevent mark additions during connector teardown fsnotify_destroy_marks() keeps a reference to its current mark while it drops conn->lock to destroy the mark. This stabilizes the forward-walk cursor, but does not prevent a new mark from being inserted before it. For example, an inotify watch re-added after IN_IGNORED sorts before the old, detached mark for the same group. The walk can miss the replacement and then detach the entire connector from the object. The replacement is still on its group's marks_list and, for inotify, in the watch IDR. The group mutex no longer protects the connector's object from disappearing. An unprivileged fdinfo read racing the final detach can consequently call igrab(NULL): BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in igrab+0x24/0x100 Write of size 4 at addr 0000000000000148 Call Trace: igrab+0x24/0x100 inotify_show_fdinfo+0x1dc/0x5e0 seq_show+0x397/0x690 Set a DESTROYING flag under conn->lock before starting the walk, and reject new marks on that connector with -ENOENT. The existing add-mark error paths undo the temporary group-list entry and the backend's watch allocation. Do not wait for teardown while holding the group mutex, which the destroyer needs. Once the old connector is detached, an add can install a fresh connector as before. This closes the insertion race for all object types using the common connector teardown, without changing the mark reference or SRCU lifetime rules.
Source: Debian Security 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 versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux |
|
|
Vendors and products
Affected operating systems
| Linux | debian | linux | trixie |
References & sources
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/36ebddca56b9d8993d6dc984fdecc748ee1f5e06
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/472589eacdf10b5f9bd10b333957ed5291b2544b
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/952501bfc6e5e654ac4a17ec9d90c1ec614bd9f1
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/587d80966dcce2824f13fd32dab83bf882acf66f
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/61133f15773b907bada651a02d9c6d38eae37c48
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/d28a460a2237220d9ccbdd3baac6eaead44e96cb
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/da2f9aa89ef1b1fe7a7c6e1a8ddacd9c975e86aa
- git.kernel.orgstable/c/f7def717c06aea7004905e4d1568c3691ef9825d
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).
Record modifiedLinux
New references:- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/587d80966dcce2824f13fd32dab83bf882acf66f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61133f15773b907bada651a02d9c6d38eae37c48
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d28a460a2237220d9ccbdd3baac6eaead44e96cb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da2f9aa89ef1b1fe7a7c6e1a8ddacd9c975e86aa
and 1 more reference
Show 6 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Affected versions (publisher) added —Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99175.json">CVE-2026-99175</a>Reference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/587d80966dcce2824f13fd32dab83bf882acf66fReference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61133f15773b907bada651a02d9c6d38eae37c48Reference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d28a460a2237220d9ccbdd3baac6eaead44e96cbReference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da2f9aa89ef1b1fe7a7c6e1a8ddacd9c975e86aaReference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7def717c06aea7004905e4d1568c3691ef9825dSource identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
ReceivedLinux
Description added or changed
Show 5 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Description added —In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fsnotify: prevent mark additions during connector teardown fsnotify_destroy_marks() keeps a reference to its current mark while it drops conn->lock to destroy the mark. This stabilizes the forward-walk cursor, but does not prevent a new mark from being inserted before it. For example, an inotify watch re-added after IN_IGNORED sorts before the old, detached mark for the same group. The walk can miss the replacement and then detach the entire connector from the object. The replacement is still on its group's marks_list and, for inotify, in the watch IDR. The group mutex no longer protects the connector's object from disappearing. An unprivileged fdinfo read racing the final detach can consequently call igrab(NULL): BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in igrab+0x24/0x100 Write of size 4 at addr 0000000000000148 Call Trace: igrab+0x24/0x100 inotify_show_fdinfo+0x1dc/0x5e0 seq_show+0x397/0x690 Set a DESTROYING flag under conn->lock before starting the walk, and reject new marks on that connector with -ENOENT. The existing add-mark error paths undo the temporary group-list entry and the backend's watch allocation. Do not wait for teardown while holding the group mutex, which the destroyer needs. Once the old connector is detached, an add can install a fresh connector as before. This closes the insertion race for all object types using the common connector teardown, without changing the mark reference or SRCU lifetime rules.Affected versions (publisher) added —New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99175.json">CVE-2026-99175</a>Reference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36ebddca56b9d8993d6dc984fdecc748ee1f5e06Reference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/472589eacdf10b5f9bd10b333957ed5291b2544bReference added —https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/952501bfc6e5e654ac4a17ec9d90c1ec614bd9f1Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2026-99175"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2026-99175.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2026-99175 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>