# CVE-2026-68242: drm/i915/gt: Fix NULL deref on sched_engine alloc failure

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash via a NULL pointer dereference in the i915 graphics driver when scheduler engine allocation fails.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 10 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-95201, BELL-CVE-2026-68242, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68242, GHSA-4cj7-cqhw-3cg9, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68242

## What is CVE-2026-68242?

CVE-2026-68242 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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:

drm/i915/gt: Fix NULL deref on sched_engine alloc failure

Avoid using intel_context_put() before intel_context_init() in
execlists_create_virtual() as the kref_put() inside would lead
to NULL deref on the IOCTL path when sched_engine allocation fails.

Discovered using AI-assisted static analysis confirmed by
Intel Product Security.

(cherry picked from commit 4f2a12f2d50e9f48227656e4dcbd6423506be31d)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68242?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68242?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-68242 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68242 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68242 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68242 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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-2026-68242 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-68242/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68242/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68242
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68242
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68242

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68242/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.