CVE-2026-98812 net/mctp: publish the mctp_dev only after it is initialised
A race condition in the Linux kernel MCTP subsystem allows local attackers to trigger a null pointer dereference and system crash.
- 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-2026-98812?
CVE-2026-98812 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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:
net/mctp: publish the mctp_dev only after it is initialised
mctp_add_dev() links the new mctp_dev into dev->mctp_ptr before mdev->dev is assigned, so a reader that picks the device up in that window dereferences a net_device pointer that is still NULL:
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000b0-0x00000000000000b7] Call Trace: <TASK> ? __pfx_mctp_sendmsg (./include/linux/sockptr.h:49) ? __pfx_mctp_dst_output (net/mctp/route.c:41) ? selinux_socket_sendmsg (security/selinux/hooks.c:5278) ____sys_sendmsg (net/socket.c:775 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:790 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2684 (discriminator 1)) ? __pfx_____sys_sendmsg (net/socket.c:1131) ? __pfx_copy_msghdr_from_user (net/socket.c:2590) ? update_cfs_rq_load_avg (kernel/sched/fair.c:5478) ___sys_sendmsg (net/socket.c:2738) ? __pfx____sys_sendmsg (net/socket.c:2625) ? perf_event_task_tick (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:838) ? sched_tick (kernel/sched/core.c:5818) ? clockevents_program_event (kernel/time/clockevents.c:372) ? fdget (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:873 fs/file.c:1100) __sys_sendmsg (net/socket.c:2770) ? __pfx___sys_sendmsg (net/socket.c:2751) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:121) </TASK>
Fix by publishing only once the object is fully initialised: __mctp_dev_get() runs under rcu_read_lock() only and hands this object to readers as soon as mctp_ptr is assigned, so they must never observe mdev->dev == NULL.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98812?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98812?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-98812 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98812 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-109286, BELL-CVE-2026-98812, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98812, GHSA-737h-gm8x-wcgc, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98812.