NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2026-23285

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drbd: fix null-pointer dereference on local read error In drbd_request_endio(), READ_COMPLETED_WITH_ERROR is passed to __req_mod() with a NULL peer_device: __req_mod(req, what, NULL, &m); The READ_COMPLETED_WITH_ERROR handler then unconditionally passes this NULL peer_device to drbd_set_out_of_sync(), which dereferences it, causing a null-pointer dereference. Fix this by obtaining the peer_device via first_peer_device(device), matching how drbd_req_destroy() handles the same situation.

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: 0.001 (1.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 2nd percentile — 1.7% 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-2026-23285: held from 0.001 to 0.001.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: 0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 0d11f3cf279c5ad20a41f29242f170ba3c02f2da, 6.4, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 7.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23285?
CVE-2026-23285 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-03-25.
How severe is CVE-2026-23285?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.