# CVE-2024-26975: powercap: intel_rapl: Fix a NULL pointer dereference

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's Intel RAPL driver can cause a system crash when probing unsupported CPU models.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26975, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26975, GHSA-2jv6-v65m-qjx7, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26975

## What is CVE-2024-26975?

CVE-2024-26975 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

powercap: intel_rapl: Fix a NULL pointer dereference

A NULL pointer dereference is triggered when probing the MMIO RAPL
driver on platforms with CPU ID not listed in intel_rapl_common CPU
model list.

This is because the intel_rapl_common module still probes on such
platforms even if 'defaults_msr' is not set after commit 1488ac990ac8
("powercap: intel_rapl: Allow probing without CPUID match"). Thus the
MMIO RAPL rp->priv->defaults is NULL when registering to RAPL framework.

Fix the problem by adding sanity check to ensure rp->priv->rapl_defaults
is always valid.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26975?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-26975?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-26975 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26975 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-26975 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-26975 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26975 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26975/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26975/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26975
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26975
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26975

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26975/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.