{"id":"CVE-2026-98268","title":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu p…","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu p…","severity":"none","vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","affected":["Linux >= eff95e170275d9e80b968f335cd03d0ac250d2d1 < 7fa9a465ae8f07c0e4685db6edb6a6f984dbd784","Linux >= eff95e170275d9e80b968f335cd03d0ac250d2d1 < 88aed0422f39b22406f35f1e758cea25e7bbcfb5","Linux 7.0"],"published":"2026-10-06","updated":"2026-10-06","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-06T09:18:16.227","source":"NVD","sourceUrl":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98268","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fa9a465ae8f07c0e4685db6edb6a6f984dbd784","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/88aed0422f39b22406f35f1e758cea25e7bbcfb5","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"}],"tags":["nvd","cve.org"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-06T08:50:17.425Z","slug":"CVE-2026-98268","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu pointer. The call log is something\nlike:\n ..\n __pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_events\n perf_pmu_unregister\n ..\n\n__pmu_detach_event() sets event->pmu to null. When the perf connection\nfinally is closed, the following stack trace is observed:\n\n Oops: general protection fault, kernel NULL pointer dereference\n ...\n RIP: 0010:_free_event+0x3e/0x370\n ...\n Call Trace:\n ...\n perf_event_release_kernel+0x260/0x2d0\n perf_release+0x12/0x20\n\nA call to mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() inside _free_event() is the root\ncause of this crash. Adding a check inside is_include_guest_event() ensures\nwe don't accidentally access a null pmu ptr. In addition to this, we will\nnow call mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() before clearing the pmu ptr so that\nnr_include_guest_events counts are maintained correctly.\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":3,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":2.8,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}