CVE-2026-31744 PM: EM: Fix NULL pointer dereference when perf domain ID is not found

What is CVE-2026-31744?

CVE-2026-31744 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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:

PM: EM: Fix NULL pointer dereference when perf domain ID is not found

dev_energymodel_nl_get_perf_domains_doit() calls em_perf_domain_get_by_id() but does not check the return value before passing it to __em_nl_get_pd_size(). When a caller supplies a non-existent perf domain ID, em_perf_domain_get_by_id() returns NULL, and __em_nl_get_pd_size() immediately dereferences pd->cpus (struct offset 0x30), causing a NULL pointer dereference.

The sister handler dev_energymodel_nl_get_perf_table_doit() already handles this correctly via __em_nl_get_pd_table_id(), which returns NULL and causes the caller to return -EINVAL. Add the same NULL check in the get-perf-domains do handler.

[ rjw: Subject and changelog edits ]

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31744?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-31744?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-31744 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31744 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31744, GHSA-85jq-w8xm-9rcm, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31744.