NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2026-31458

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/damon/sysfs: check contexts->nr before accessing contexts_arr[0] Multiple sysfs command paths dereference contexts_arr[0] without first verifying that kdamond->contexts->nr == 1. A user can set nr_contexts to 0 via sysfs while DAMON is running, causing NULL pointer dereferences. In more detail, the issue can be triggered by privileged users like below. First, start DAMON and make contexts directory empty (kdamond->contexts->nr == 0). # damo start # cd /sys/kernel/mm/damon/admin/kdamonds/0 # echo 0 > contexts/nr_contexts Then, each of below commands will cause the NULL pointer dereference. # echo update_schemes_stats > state # echo update_schemes_tried_regions > state # echo update_schemes_tried_bytes > state # echo update_schemes_effective_quotas > state # echo update_tuned_intervals > state Guard all commands (except OFF) at the entry point of damon_sysfs_handle_cmd().

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 (4.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 5th percentile — 4.7% 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-2026-31458: held from 0.001 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 0ac32b8affb5a384253dbb8339bd2d0e91add0b7, 5.18, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 7.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-31458?
CVE-2026-31458 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-04-22.
How severe is CVE-2026-31458?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.