CVE-2026-98064 bpf: Fix NULL-ptr-deref when showing a void BTF type
A local attacker with BPF privileges can trigger a kernel crash by passing a void BTF type to bpf_snprintf_btf, causing a null pointer dereference.
- 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-2026-98064?
CVE-2026-98064 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 Sep 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:
bpf: Fix NULL-ptr-deref when showing a void BTF type
btf_modifier_show() resolves the modifier and then calls btf_type_ops(t)->show() unconditionally. For the void type (type_id 0, BTF_KIND_UNKN) kind_ops[] has no entry, so ->show is NULL.
A "const void" (a modifier resolving to void) cannot be a map key or value - map_check_btf() rejects it because void has no size - so the map dump path does not reach it. But bpf_snprintf_btf() takes a type_id straight from the BPF program, and passing such a "const void" from the vmlinux BTF NULL-derefs:
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000028-0x000000000000002f] RIP: 0010:btf_modifier_show (kernel/bpf/btf.c:2914) Call Trace: <TASK> btf_type_show (kernel/bpf/btf.c:8251) btf_type_snprintf_show (kernel/bpf/btf.c:8321) bpf_snprintf_btf (kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c:1047) bpf_prog_test_run_raw_tp (net/bpf/test_run.c:829) __sys_bpf (kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4804) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:121) </TASK>
Fall back to btf_df_show() when the resolved type has no show op; it emits the "<unsupported kind:N>" placeholder already used for kinds like FWD and FUNC. bpf_snprintf_btf() then returns the length as usual.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98064?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98064?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-98064 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98064 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-104391, BELL-CVE-2026-98064, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98064, GHSA-rf5p-p5fj-r25r, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98064.