# CVE-2026-53163: locking/rtmutex: Skip remove_waiter() when waiter is not enqueued

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's rtmutex locking mechanism allows local attackers to cause a system crash via futex 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 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 24 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-90620, BELL-CVE-2026-53163, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53163, GHSA-4w7w-2mrj-36vw, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53163, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-53163, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-53163, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53163

## What is CVE-2026-53163?

CVE-2026-53163 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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:

locking/rtmutex: Skip remove_waiter() when waiter is not enqueued

syzbot triggered the following splat in remove_waiter() via
FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI:

  KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000a88-0x0000000000000a8f]
   class_raw_spinlock_constructor
   remove_waiter+0x159/0x1200 kernel/locking/rtmutex.c:1561
   rt_mutex_start_proxy_lock+0x103/0x120
   futex_requeue+0x10e4/0x20d0
   __x64_sys_futex+0x34f/0x4d0

task_blocks_on_rt_mutex() does not arm the waiter upon deadlock detection,
leaving waiter->task nil, where 3bfdc63936dd ("rtmutex: Use waiter::task instead
of current in remove_waiter()") made this fatal.

Furthermore, rt_mutex_start_proxy_lock() should not be calling into remove_waiter()
upon a successfully grabbing the rtmutex. 1a1fb985f2e2 ("futex: Handle early deadlock
return correctly"), moved the remove_waiter() out of __rt_mutex_start_proxy_lock()
(where 'ret' was only ever 0 or < 0) into the wrapper. Tighten this check to
account for try_to_take_rt_mutex().

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53163?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53163?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53163 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53163 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-2026-53163 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53163 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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-2026-53163 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-2026-53163/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53163/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53163
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53163
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53163

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53163/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.