# CVE-2026-46118: pseries/papr-hvpipe: Fix null ptr deref in papr_hvpipe_dev_create_handle()

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's papr-hvpipe driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash via ioctl calls.

- **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:** 28 May 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46118, GHSA-g7gx-q434-9vpg, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-46118, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-46118, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46118

## What is CVE-2026-46118?

CVE-2026-46118 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 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:

pseries/papr-hvpipe: Fix null ptr deref in papr_hvpipe_dev_create_handle()

commit 6d3789d347a7 ("papr-hvpipe: convert papr_hvpipe_dev_create_handle() to FD_PREPARE()"),
changed the create handle to FD_PREPARE(), but it caused kernel
null-ptr-deref because after call to retain_and_null_ptr(src_info),
src_info is re-used for adding it to the global list.

Getting the following kernel panic in papr_hvpipe_dev_create_handle()
when trying to add src_info to the list.
 Kernel attempted to write user page (0) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
 BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on write at 0x00000000
 Faulting instruction address: 0xc0000000001b44a0
 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
 ...
 Call Trace:
 papr_hvpipe_dev_ioctl+0x1f4/0x48c (unreliable)
 sys_ioctl+0x528/0x1064
 system_call_exception+0x128/0x360
 system_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec

Now, the error handling with FD_PREPARE's file cleanup and __free(kfree) auto
cleanup is getting too convoluted. This is mainly because we need to
ensure only 1 user get the srcID handle. To simplify this, we allocate
prepare the src_info in the beginning and add it to the global list
under a spinlock after checking that no duplicates exist.

This simplify the error handling where if the FD_ADD fails, we can
simply remove the src_info from the list and consume any pending msg in
hvpipe to be cleared, after src_info became visible in the global list.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46118?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-46118?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-46118 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46118 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-2026-46118 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-46118 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 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-2026-46118 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-2026-46118/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46118/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46118
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46118
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46118

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46118/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.