CVE-2026-45966EPSS p2.2%
CVE-2026-45966CVE-2026-45966
linux / linux_kernel
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
apparmor: fix NULL pointer dereference in __unix_needs_revalidation
When receiving file descriptors via SCM_RIGHTS, both the socket pointer
and the socket's sk pointer can be NULL during socket setup or teardown,
causing NULL pointer dereferences in __unix_needs_revalidation().
This is a regression in AppArmor 5.0.0 (kernel 6.17+) where the new
__unix_needs_revalidation() function was added without proper NULL checks.
The crash manifests as:
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0x0000000000000018
RIP: aa_file_perm+0xb7/0x3b0 (or +0xbe/0x3b0, +0xc0/0x3e0)
Call Trace:
apparmor_file_receive+0x42/0x80
security_file_receive+0x2e/0x50
receive_fd+0x1d/0xf0
scm_detach_fds+0xad/0x1c0
The function dereferences sock->sk->sk_family without checking if either
sock or sock->sk is NULL first.
Add NULL checks for both sock and sock->sk before accessing sk_family.
Scoring
| CVSS | 5.5 () |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| EPSS | 0.12% probability of exploitation · percentile 2.2% · 2026-06-19T12:03:05Z |
| Last modified | 2026-06-16 |