# CVE-2026-23286: atm: lec: fix null-ptr-deref in lec_arp_clear_vccs

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel ATM LANE module allows local attackers to cause a system crash via crafted network operations.

- **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:** 25 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-80607, BELL-CVE-2026-23286, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23286, GHSA-6rj2-xg9p-3jj4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23286, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23286, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23286, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23286, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23286, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23286

## What is CVE-2026-23286?

CVE-2026-23286 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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:

atm: lec: fix null-ptr-deref in lec_arp_clear_vccs

syzkaller reported a null-ptr-deref in lec_arp_clear_vccs().
This issue can be easily reproduced using the syzkaller reproducer.

In the ATM LANE (LAN Emulation) module, the same atm_vcc can be shared by
multiple lec_arp_table entries (e.g., via entry->vcc or entry->recv_vcc).
When the underlying VCC is closed, lec_vcc_close() iterates over all
ARP entries and calls lec_arp_clear_vccs() for each matched entry.

For example, when lec_vcc_close() iterates through the hlists in
priv->lec_arp_empty_ones or other ARP tables:

1. In the first iteration, for the first matched ARP entry sharing the VCC,
lec_arp_clear_vccs() frees the associated vpriv (which is vcc->user_back)
and sets vcc->user_back to NULL.
2. In the second iteration, for the next matched ARP entry sharing the same
VCC, lec_arp_clear_vccs() is called again. It obtains a NULL vpriv from
vcc->user_back (via LEC_VCC_PRIV(vcc)) and then attempts to dereference it
via `vcc->pop = vpriv->old_pop`, leading to a null-ptr-deref crash.

Fix this by adding a null check for vpriv before dereferencing
it. If vpriv is already NULL, it means the VCC has been cleared
by a previous call, so we can safely skip the cleanup and just
clear the entry's vcc/recv_vcc pointers.

The entire cleanup block (including vcc_release_async()) is placed inside
the vpriv guard because a NULL vpriv indicates the VCC has already been
fully released by a prior iteration — repeating the teardown would
redundantly set flags and trigger callbacks on an already-closing socket.

The Fixes tag points to the initial commit because the entry->vcc path has
been vulnerable since the original code. The entry->recv_vcc path was later
added by commit 8d9f73c0ad2f ("atm: fix a memory leak of vcc->user_back")
with the same pattern, and both paths are fixed here.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23286?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23286?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23286 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23286 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-2026-23286 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23286 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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-2026-23286 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-2026-23286/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23286/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23286
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23286
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23286

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23286/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.