# CVE-2026-45968: cpuidle: Skip governor when only one idle state is available

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel cpuidle governor causes a system crash on specific PowerNV platforms with a single idle state.

- **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:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 27 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-45968, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45968, GHSA-2g8g-2643-4335, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-45968, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45968, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45968

## What is CVE-2026-45968?

CVE-2026-45968 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 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:

cpuidle: Skip governor when only one idle state is available

On certain platforms (PowerNV systems without a power-mgt DT node),
cpuidle may register only a single idle state. In cases where that
single state is a polling state (state 0), the ladder governor may
incorrectly treat state 1 as the first usable state and pass an
out-of-bounds index. This can lead to a NULL enter callback being
invoked, ultimately resulting in a system crash.

[   13.342636] cpuidle-powernv : Only Snooze is available
[   13.351854] Faulting instruction address: 0x00000000
[   13.376489] NIP [0000000000000000] 0x0
[   13.378351] LR  [c000000001e01974] cpuidle_enter_state+0x2c4/0x668

Fix this by adding a bail-out in cpuidle_select() that returns state 0
directly when state_count <= 1, bypassing the governor and keeping the
tick running.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45968?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-45968?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-45968 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45968 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-2026-45968 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45968 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 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-2026-45968 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-2026-45968/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45968/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45968
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45968
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45968

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45968/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.