NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2026-45838

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: fix end-of-list detection in cgroup_storage_get_next_key() list_next_entry() never returns NULL -- when the current element is the last entry it wraps to the list head via container_of(). The subsequent NULL check is therefore dead code and get_next_key() never returns -ENOENT for the last element, instead reading storage->key from a bogus pointer that aliases internal map fields and copying the result to userspace. Replace it with list_entry_is_head() so the function correctly returns -ENOENT when there are no more entries.

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 (4.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 5th percentile — 4.8% 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-2026-45838: held from 0.001 to 0.002.

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

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-45838?
CVE-2026-45838 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-05-27.
How severe is CVE-2026-45838?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.