# CVE-2026-72362: drm/xe/pt: Fix NULL pointer dereference in xe_pt_zap_ptes_entry()

> A local attacker can crash the Linux kernel by triggering a NULL pointer dereference in the Xe GPU driver's page-table walk framework.

- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72362, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72362, GHSA-7rqx-8x9q-hj6w, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72362

## What is CVE-2026-72362?

CVE-2026-72362 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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/xe/pt: Fix NULL pointer dereference in xe_pt_zap_ptes_entry()

The page-table walk framework may pass a NULL *child pointer for
unpopulated entries. xe_pt_zap_ptes_entry() called container_of(*child)
before checking for NULL, then dereferenced the result, causing a crash.

Move the container_of() call after a NULL guard, so the function returns
early instead of proceeding with an invalid pointer. XE_WARN_ON is kept
to help root cause the issue, but we now bail instead of crashing the
driver.

v2: Comment that triggering XE_WARN_ON is unexpected behavior (Matt Brost)

(cherry picked from commit b9297d19d9df5d4b6c994648570c5dcd1cac68ff)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72362?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72362?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72362 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72362 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72362 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72362 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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-2026-72362 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-2026-72362/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72362/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72362
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72362
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72362

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72362/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.