CVE-2026-98812: net/mctp: publish the mctp_dev only after it is initialised

Published Oct 18, 2026
·
Updated

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

net/mctp: publish the mctpdev only after it is initialised

mctpadddev() links the new mctpdev into dev->mctpptr before mdev->dev is assigned, so a reader that picks the device up in that window dereferences a netdevice pointer that is still NULL:

KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000b0-0x00000000000000b7] Call Trace: <TASK> ? pfxmctpsendmsg (./include/linux/sockptr.h:49) ? pfxmctpdstoutput (net/mctp/route.c:41) ? selinuxsocketsendmsg (security/selinux/hooks.c:5278) syssendmsg (net/socket.c:775 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:790 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2684 (discriminator 1)) ? pfxsyssendmsg (net/socket.c:1131) ? pfxcopymsghdrfromuser (net/socket.c:2590) ? updatecfsrqloadavg (kernel/sched/fair.c:5478) syssendmsg (net/socket.c:2738) ? pfxsyssendmsg (net/socket.c:2625) ? perfeventtasktick (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:838) ? schedtick (kernel/sched/core.c:5818) ? clockeventsprogramevent (kernel/time/clockevents.c:372) ? fdget (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:873 fs/file.c:1100) syssendmsg (net/socket.c:2770) ? pfxsyssendmsg (net/socket.c:2751) dosyscall64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall64.c:63) entrySYSCALL64afterhwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry64.S:121) </TASK>

Fix by publishing only once the object is fully initialised: mctpdevget() runs under rcureadlock() only and hands this object to readers as soon as mctpptr is assigned, so they must never observe mdev->dev == NULL.

Affected Software

214 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Linux kernel
debian/linux*
debian/linux<6.12.113-1
6.12.113-1
debian/linux<7.2.10-1
7.2.10-1
debian/linux-6.12<6.12.113-1~deb12u1
6.12.113-1~deb12u1
linux/kernel>=5.15.0<5.15.224
5.15.224
linux/kernel>=5.16.0<6.1.191
6.1.191
linux/kernel>=6.2.0<6.6.160
6.6.160
linux/kernel>=6.7.0<6.12.113
6.12.113
linux/kernel>=6.13.0<6.18.56
6.18.56
linux/kernel>=6.19.0<7.2.10
7.2.10
debian/linux<=6.1.176-1, <=6.1.190-1, <=6.12.107-1
6.12.115-27.2.12-17.2.15-1
debian/linux-6.12
6.12.113-1~deb12u1
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-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15*
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-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15*
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-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-raspi2*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*
ubuntu/linux*
ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-ibm*
ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg*
ubuntu/linux-kvm*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igx*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-oracle*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-raspi*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp*
ubuntu/linux-bluefield*
ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux*
ubuntu/linux-aws*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-azure-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia*
ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-ibm*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-oracle*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-raspi*
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*
ubuntu/linux-vmware*
ubuntu/linux-xilinx*
ubuntu/linux-bluefield*
ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17*
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*
ubuntu/linux-fips*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*
ubuntu/linux*
ubuntu/linux-aws*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-ibm*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-bos*
ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0*
ubuntu/linux-oracle*
ubuntu/linux-raspi*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.12.113-1
  2. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 7.2.10-1
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/linux-6.12 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.12.113-1~deb12u1
  4. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 5.15.224
  5. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.1.191
  6. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.6.160
  7. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.12.113
  8. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.18.56
  9. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 7.2.10
  10. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.12.115-2Fixed in 7.2.12-1Fixed in 7.2.15-1

Event History

Oct 18, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·03:48 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·03:48 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via OSV·03:48 PM
DescriptionAffected Software
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:17 PM
Description
Oct 20, 2026
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·08:06 AM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Nov 10, 2026
Data Sourced
via OSV·02:53 AM
Severity

Peer vulnerabilities

Found alongside the following vulnerabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What conditions are required to trigger the fault?

The race requires a reader to obtain the newly added MCTP device after it is linked through dev->mctp_ptr but before its mdev->dev net_device pointer has been assigned. A concurrent MCTP send operation can then dereference the still-NULL pointer.

2

What is the observed impact?

The reported outcome is a NULL-pointer dereference detected by KASAN during the MCTP send path, with the trace reaching mctp_sendmsg and mctp_dst_output. This can cause a kernel fault.

3

What change resolves the issue?

The fix delays publication of the mctp_dev until after it has been initialized, preventing readers from observing it with an unset net_device pointer.

Contact

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