# CVE-2026-23277: net/sched: teql: fix NULL pointer dereference in iptunnel_xmit on TEQL slave xmit

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel TEQL scheduler causes a system crash when transmitting through gretap tunnels.

- **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:** 20 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-80204, BELL-CVE-2026-23277, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23277, GHSA-v66f-jqgm-8687, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23277, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23277, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23277, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23277, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23277, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23277

## What is CVE-2026-23277?

CVE-2026-23277 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Mar 2026. 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:

net/sched: teql: fix NULL pointer dereference in iptunnel_xmit on TEQL slave xmit

teql_master_xmit() calls netdev_start_xmit(skb, slave) to transmit
through slave devices, but does not update skb->dev to the slave device
beforehand.

When a gretap tunnel is a TEQL slave, the transmit path reaches
iptunnel_xmit() which saves dev = skb->dev (still pointing to teql0
master) and later calls iptunnel_xmit_stats(dev, pkt_len). This
function does:

    get_cpu_ptr(dev->tstats)

Since teql_master_setup() does not set dev->pcpu_stat_type to
NETDEV_PCPU_STAT_TSTATS, the core network stack never allocates tstats
for teql0, so dev->tstats is NULL. get_cpu_ptr(NULL) computes
NULL + __per_cpu_offset[cpu], resulting in a page fault.

 BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffff8880e6659018
 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode
 #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page
 PGD 68bc067 P4D 68bc067 PUD 0
 Oops: Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI
 RIP: 0010:iptunnel_xmit (./include/net/ip_tunnels.h:664 net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:89)
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847)
  __gre_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:478)
  gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779)
  teql_master_xmit (net/sched/sch_teql.c:319)
  dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
  sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347)
  __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802)
  neigh_direct_output (net/core/neighbour.c:1660)
  ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237)
  __ip_finish_output.part.0 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:315)
  ip_mc_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:369)
  ip_send_skb (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:1508)
  udp_send_skb (net/ipv4/udp.c:1195)
  udp_sendmsg (net/ipv4/udp.c:1485)
  inet_sendmsg (net/ipv4/af_inet.c:859)
  __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2206)

Fix this by setting skb->dev = slave before calling
netdev_start_xmit(), so that tunnel xmit functions see the correct
slave device with properly allocated tstats.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23277?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23277?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23277 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23277 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-2026-23277 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23277 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Mar 2026. 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-2026-23277 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-2026-23277/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23277/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23277
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23277
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23277

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23277/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.