VulnerabilityPublished 24 Jun 2026Updated 19 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-53069: Linux kernel · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High · fixed in ea690b3b6e58ae00979af8195b4cc24df466b65e : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS

0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 31% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation: No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
Automatable: Attackers can reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
Technical impact: Limited control over the software or limited information exposure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-10-16.

Patch

Available – fixed in ea690b3b6e58ae00979af8195b4cc24df466b65e, acbf45bd584d924b320bee2a7fe2a26f64904d95, 183128da0406b1c10e6f60b7b9fe70788b9c8c1d +4

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 879af96ffd72706c6e3278ea6b45b0b0e37ec5d7, < ea690b3b6e58ae00979af8195b4cc24df466b65e	Fixed in ea690b3b6e58ae00979af8195b4cc24df466b65e
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 879af96ffd72706c6e3278ea6b45b0b0e37ec5d7, < acbf45bd584d924b320bee2a7fe2a26f64904d95	Fixed in acbf45bd584d924b320bee2a7fe2a26f64904d95
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 879af96ffd72706c6e3278ea6b45b0b0e37ec5d7, < 183128da0406b1c10e6f60b7b9fe70788b9c8c1d	Fixed in 183128da0406b1c10e6f60b7b9fe70788b9c8c1d
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 879af96ffd72706c6e3278ea6b45b0b0e37ec5d7, < 3128b294b426533c8d9162187446d93a8a160359	Fixed in 3128b294b426533c8d9162187446d93a8a160359
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 879af96ffd72706c6e3278ea6b45b0b0e37ec5d7, < 1921f91298d1388a0bb9db8f83800c998b649cb3	Fixed in 1921f91298d1388a0bb9db8f83800c998b649cb3
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 879af96ffd72706c6e3278ea6b45b0b0e37ec5d7, < 866d3d9b87751b1944168fd82615505e0c0fd6cf	Fixed in 866d3d9b87751b1944168fd82615505e0c0fd6cf

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net, bpf: fix null-ptr-deref in xdp_master_redirect() for down master syzkaller reported a kernel panic in bond_rr_gen_slave_id() reached via xdp_master_redirect(). Full decoded trace: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=80e046b8da2820b6ba73 bond_rr_gen_slave_id() dereferences bond->rr_tx_counter, a per-CPU counter that bonding only allocates in bond_open() when the mode is round-robin. If the bond device was never brought up, rr_tx_counter stays NULL. The XDP redirect path can still reach that code on a bond that was never opened: bpf_master_redirect_enabled_key is a global static key, so as soon as any bond device has native XDP attached, the XDP_TX -> xdp_master_redirect() interception is enabled for every slave system-wide. The path xdp_master_redirect() -> bond_xdp_get_xmit_slave() -> bond_xdp_xmit_roundrobin_slave_get() -> bond_rr_gen_slave_id() then runs against a bond that has no rr_tx_counter and crashes. Fix this in the generic xdp_master_redirect() by refusing to call into the master's ->ndo_xdp_get_xmit_slave() when the master device is not up. IFF_UP is only set after ->ndo_open() has successfully returned, so this reliably excludes masters whose XDP state has not been fully initialized. Drop the frame with XDP_ABORTED so the exception is visible via trace_xdp_exception() rather than silently falling through. This is not specific to bonding: any current or future master that defers XDP state allocation to ->ndo_open() is protected.

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumCWE Top 25 (2025): #13OWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
Implementation
For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
Requirements
Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
Implementation
Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.7 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

WeaknessesCWE-476

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats