# CVE-2026-64048: net/smc: reject CHID-0 ACCEPT that matches an empty ism_dev slot

> A malicious peer can trigger a null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel SMC-D module, causing a system crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-64048, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64048, GHSA-942p-vjp4-xm8p, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-64048, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-64048, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64048

## What is CVE-2026-64048?

CVE-2026-64048 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/smc: reject CHID-0 ACCEPT that matches an empty ism_dev slot

On the SMC-D client, slot 0 of ini->ism_dev[]/ini->ism_chid[] is
reserved for an SMC-Dv1 device. smc_find_ism_v2_device_clnt()
populates V2 entries starting at index 1, so when no V1 device is
selected slot 0 is left in its kzalloc()'ed state with ism_dev[0] ==
NULL and ism_chid[0] == 0.

smc_v2_determine_accepted_chid() then matches the peer's CHID against
the array starting from index 0 using the CHID alone. A malicious
peer replying to a SMC-Dv2-only proposal with d1.chid == 0 matches
the empty slot, ini->ism_selected becomes 0, and the subsequent
ism_dev[0]->lgr_lock dereference in smc_conn_create() faults at
offsetof(struct smcd_dev, lgr_lock) == 0x68:

  BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in _raw_spin_lock_bh+0x79/0xe0
  Write of size 4 at addr 0000000000000068 by task exploit/144
  Call Trace:
   _raw_spin_lock_bh
   smc_conn_create (net/smc/smc_core.c:1997)
   __smc_connect (net/smc/af_smc.c:1447)
   smc_connect (net/smc/af_smc.c:1720)
   __sys_connect
   __x64_sys_connect
   do_syscall_64

Require ism_dev[i] to be non-NULL before accepting a CHID match.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64048?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-64048?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-64048 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64048 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-2026-64048 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-64048 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64048 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-2026-64048/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64048/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-64048
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64048
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-64048

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64048/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.