NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2026-23002

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: lib/buildid: use __kernel_read() for sleepable context Prevent a "BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference in filemap_read_folio". For the sleepable context, convert freader to use __kernel_read() instead of direct page cache access via read_cache_folio(). This simplifies the faultable code path by using the standard kernel file reading interface which handles all the complexity of reading file data. At the moment we are not changing the code for non-sleepable context which uses filemap_get_folio() and only succeeds if the target folios are already in memory and up-to-date. The reason is to keep the patch simple and easier to backport to stable kernels. Syzbot repro does not crash the kernel anymore and the selftests run successfully. In the follow up we will make __kernel_read() with IOCB_NOWAIT work for non-sleepable contexts. In addition, I would like to replace the secretmem check with a more generic approach and will add fstest for the buildid code.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (6.0th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 6th percentile — 6.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-23002: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions ad41251c290dfe3c01472c94d2439a59de23fe97, 6.12, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.12, 6.19

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23002?
CVE-2026-23002 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-01-25.
How severe is CVE-2026-23002?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2026-23002 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.