In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm-stats: fix a crash if allocation of per-cpu data fails If… (CVE-2026-80963)
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's device mapper statistics (dm-stats) code could cause a crash due to a NULL pointer dereference when allocation of per-CPU data fails. The issue occurs because the code does not check if per-CPU data pointers are NULL before dereferencing them during cleanup. This flaw has been fixed by adding a NULL check before usage.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The Linux kernel's dm-stats component had a flaw where failure in allocating per-CPU data with dm_kvzalloc led to a jump to cleanup code that calls dm_stat_free. The dm_stat_free function iterates over possible CPUs and frees allocated histograms without verifying if the per-CPU data pointers are NULL, causing a NULL pointer dereference crash. The patch adds a NULL check for s->stat_percpu[cpu] before dereferencing it, preventing the crash.
Potential Impact
This vulnerability can cause a denial of service via a kernel crash triggered by a NULL pointer dereference during error handling in dm-stats. There is no indication of privilege escalation or code execution impact.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to add NULL pointer checks in dm_stat_free. Users should apply the official kernel update that includes this patch. No other mitigation is indicated.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm-stats: fix a crash if allocation of per-cpu data fails If… (CVE-2026-80963)
Description
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's device mapper statistics (dm-stats) code could cause a crash due to a NULL pointer dereference when allocation of per-CPU data fails. The issue occurs because the code does not check if per-CPU data pointers are NULL before dereferencing them during cleanup. This flaw has been fixed by adding a NULL check before usage.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The Linux kernel's dm-stats component had a flaw where failure in allocating per-CPU data with dm_kvzalloc led to a jump to cleanup code that calls dm_stat_free. The dm_stat_free function iterates over possible CPUs and frees allocated histograms without verifying if the per-CPU data pointers are NULL, causing a NULL pointer dereference crash. The patch adds a NULL check for s->stat_percpu[cpu] before dereferencing it, preventing the crash.
Potential Impact
This vulnerability can cause a denial of service via a kernel crash triggered by a NULL pointer dereference during error handling in dm-stats. There is no indication of privilege escalation or code execution impact.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to add NULL pointer checks in dm_stat_free. Users should apply the official kernel update that includes this patch. No other mitigation is indicated.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- GHSA-vfhr-8gq2-gpcv
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.4.0
- Aliases
- ["CVE-2026-80963"]
Threat ID: 6aa4a02d55bf5e2cf5a86b67
Added to database: 09/12/2026, 00:43:25 UTC
Last enriched: 09/12/2026, 01:24:37 UTC
Last updated: 09/12/2026, 02:41:29 UTC
Views: 3
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