CVE-2026-74633: tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in module event cache removal

Published Aug 22, 2026
·
Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in module event cache removal

A module-only event filter such as ":mod:foo" is cached with a NULL eventmod->match when foo has not been loaded. If a later write tries to remove a specific match from the same module, removecachemod() passes the NULL cached match to strcmp(), causing a NULL pointer dereference.

The issue can be reproduced from userspace:

echo ':mod:traceeventskunitmissing' > /sys/kernel/tracing/setevent echo '!foobar:mod:traceeventskunitmissing' >> /sys/kernel/tracing/setevent

The second write must be a concatenation (">>") to not include OTRUNC as that would cause ftraceclearevents() to clear the cached modules lines.

The crash was reproduced on x8664 QEMU while KUnit workers contended on the event tracing path:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode RIP: 0010:strcmp+0x10/0x30 Call Trace: ftracesetclreventnolock+0x373/0x4a0 ftracesetclrevent+0xf0/0x180 ftraceeventwrite+0xdf/0x110 vfswrite+0xf6/0x440 ksyswrite+0x68/0xe0 dosyscall64+0xf9/0x540 entrySYSCALL64afterhwframe+0x77/0x7f

Check eventmod->match before comparing it, consistent with the existing NULL checks for the cached system and event fields. The mismatched removal continues to return -EINVAL; a broad cached module filter is removed with "!:mod:<module>".

Affected Software

129 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Kernel
ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*
ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-hwe*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*
ubuntu/linux-oem*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-raspi2*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-azure-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0<7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0<7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1
7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17*
ubuntu/linux<7.0.0-42.42
7.0.0-42.42
ubuntu/linux-aws<7.0.0-1016.17
7.0.0-1016.17
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-gcp<7.0.0-1016.18
7.0.0-1016.18
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-ibm<7.0.0-1017.17
7.0.0-1017.17
ubuntu/linux-nvidia*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-bos*
ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0<7.0.0-1017.17
7.0.0-1017.17
ubuntu/linux-oracle<7.0.0-1015.16
7.0.0-1015.16
ubuntu/linux-raspi*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv<7.0.0-42.42.1
7.0.0-42.42.1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.17
  5. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18
  6. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
  7. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
  8. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.16
  9. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1

Event History

Aug 22, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·03:32 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·03:32 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via OSV·04:16 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:16 PM
Description

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What access is needed to trigger this issue?

An attacker needs the ability to write event-filter commands to /sys/kernel/tracing/set_event. The documented reproduction is performed from userspace using writes to that tracing control file.

2

What sequence triggers the NULL pointer dereference?

A module-only filter for a module that is not loaded must first be cached, leaving its cached match value NULL. A later appended write that removes a specific match from that same module can cause the kernel to pass that NULL value to strcmp().

3

Does the way the tracing file is opened matter for reproduction?

Yes. The second command must be appended rather than written with truncation, because O_TRUNC causes ftrace_clear_events() to clear the cached module entries and prevents the described trigger sequence.

4

How would the failure appear on an affected system?

The kernel can crash with a NULL pointer dereference during strcmp(), with the tracing event write path in the call trace, including __ftrace_set_clr_event_nolock, ftrace_set_clr_event, and ftrace_event_write.

Contact

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