# CVE-2026-98065: bpf: Reject key-less BTF for hash maps

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by reading a key-less BPF hash map via bpffs, leading to a null pointer dereference.

- **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:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98065, GHSA-mhp6-ww8c-xw4f, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98065

## What is CVE-2026-98065?

CVE-2026-98065 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: Reject key-less BTF for hash maps

map_check_btf() allows a key-less BTF (btf_key_type_id == 0) only for
maps that have a ->map_check_btf callback, and leaves the actual
decision to that callback. Hash maps used to have no ->map_check_btf,
so a key-less BTF was rejected outright.

That changed when htab and rhtab gained a ->map_check_btf to register a
dtor - htab in commit 1df97a7453ee ("bpf: Register dtor for freeing
special fields") and rhtab in commit 6905f8601298 ("bpf: Allow special
fields in resizable hashtab"). Neither looks at the key, so a key-less
hash map now passes map_check_btf() and gets created. Reading it back
through bpffs feeds the key type_id 0 into btf_type_seq_show();
btf_type_by_id() returns the void type, kind_ops[BTF_KIND_UNKN] is NULL,
and btf_type_show() dereferences it:

RIP: 0010:btf_type_show+0x223/0x2e0 kernel/bpf/btf.c:8232
RSP: 0018:ffffc9000399f868 EFLAGS: 00010206
RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000000
RDX: 0000000000000005 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000028
RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: ffffc9000399f970 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffffffff9b96b140
R13: ffffc9000399f8e0 R14: ffff88803d393c00 R15: 0000000000000003
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000200000000000 CR3: 000000003d213000 CR4: 0000000000352ef0
DR0: 0000000039ae8f55 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000ffff0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 btf_type_seq_show_flags+0xca/0x120 kernel/bpf/btf.c:8250
 htab_map_seq_show_elem+0x12e/0x350 kernel/bpf/hashtab.c:1669
 map_seq_show+0x13d/0x1e0 kernel/bpf/inode.c:293
 traverse.part.0.constprop.0+0x107/0x650 fs/seq_file.c:112
 traverse fs/seq_file.c:99 [inline]
 seq_read_iter+0x93f/0x1270 fs/seq_file.c:196
 seq_read+0x344/0x4d0 fs/seq_file.c:163
 vfs_read+0x1e4/0xb40 fs/read_write.c:572
 ksys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:764 [inline]
 __do_sys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:772 [inline]
 __se_sys_pread64 fs/read_write.c:769 [inline]
 __x64_sys_pread64+0x1eb/0x250 fs/read_write.c:769
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:61 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0x123/0x790 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:84
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

Reject a key-less BTF in htab_map_check_btf() and rhtab_map_check_btf(),
restoring the previous behavior.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98065?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98065?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98065 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98065 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98065 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98065 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98065 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-2026-98065/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98065/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98065
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98065
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98065

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98065/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.