# CVE-2026-52997: net/sched: sch_dualpi2: drain both C-queue and L-queue in dualpi2_change()

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by triggering a NULL pointer dereference in the dualpi2 qdisc when reducing limits while packets are queued in the L-queue.

- **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:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-52997, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-52997, GHSA-qc77-246g-gj7g, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-52997

## What is CVE-2026-52997?

CVE-2026-52997 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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: sch_dualpi2: drain both C-queue and L-queue in dualpi2_change()

Fix dualpi2_change() to correctly enforce updated limit and memlimit
values after a configuration change of the dualpi2 qdisc.

Before this patch, dualpi2_change() always attempted to dequeue packets
via the root qdisc (C-queue) when reducing backlog or memory usage, and
unconditionally assumed that a valid skb will be returned. When traffic
classification results in packets being queued in the L-queue while the
C-queue is empty, this leads to a NULL skb dereference during limit or
memlimit enforcement.

This is fixed by first dequeuing from the C-queue path if it is
non-empty. Once the C-queue is empty, packets are dequeued directly from
the L-queue. Return values from qdisc_dequeue_internal() are checked for
both queues. When dequeuing from the L-queue, the parent qdisc qlen and
backlog counters are updated explicitly to keep overall qdisc statistics
consistent.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-52997?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-52997?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-52997 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-52997 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-2026-52997 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-52997 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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-2026-52997 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-2026-52997/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52997/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-52997
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-52997
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-52997

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52997/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.