CVE-2026-64295 mm: page_ext: add count limit to page_ext_iter_next to prevent invalid PFN access
A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel memory management subsystem can cause a system crash during memory hotplug operations.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-64295?
CVE-2026-64295 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jul 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:
mm: page_ext: add count limit to page_ext_iter_next to prevent invalid PFN access
The page_ext iteration API does not validate if the PFN still belongs to a valid section while advancing the iterator. When dynamically adding memory in the hotplug path, it can lead to a NULL pointer dereference during page_ext_lookup at the boundary of the last valid section when iterator count equals __pgcount.
The for_each_page_ext() macro calls page_ext_iter_next() as its loop increment. for_each_page_ext() does a "__page_ext = page_ext_iter_next(&__iter)" at the end. This causes page_ext_iter_next() to increment iter->index past __pgcount and call page_ext_lookup(start_pfn + __pgcount). During memory hotplug (online), the PFN at start_pfn + __pgcount may belong to a section that has not yet been initialized, causing page_ext_lookup() to trigger a NULL pointer dereference.
[ 14.555124][ T846] Call trace: [ 14.555125][ T846] lookup_page_ext+0x6c/0x108 (P) [ 14.555127][ T846] page_ext_lookup+0x30/0x3c [ 14.555129][ T846] __reset_page_owner+0x11c/0x260 [ 14.571201][ T846] __free_pages_ok+0x5e8/0x8e0 [ 14.571204][ T846] __free_pages_core+0x78/0xf0 [ 14.571206][ T846] generic_online_page+0x14/0x24 [ 14.597782][ T846] online_pages+0x178/0x30c [ 14.597784][ T846] memory_block_change_state+0x284/0x32c [ 14.597787][ T846] memory_subsys_online+0x4c/0x64 [ 14.597789][ T846] device_online+0x88/0xb0 [ 14.597791][ T846] online_memory_block+0x30/0x40 [ 14.597793][ T846] walk_memory_blocks+0xac/0xe8 [ 14.597794][ T846] add_memory_resource+0x280/0x298 [ 14.656161][ T846] add_memory+0x60/0x98
Move the iteration boundary enforcement inside the iterator functions, so callers cannot inadvertently access beyond the requested range.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64295?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-64295?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-64295 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64295 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-64295, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64295, GHSA-v5hf-7896-cmm7, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-64295, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64295.