CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98854

Low risk· EPSS 5%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.16%

5th percentile - higher than 5% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel, of_overlay_fdt_apply() stores the idr_alloc() return value in ovcs->id before checking it. On allocation failure the stored id is negative, so free_overlay_changeset()'s "if (ovcs->id)" check passes, idr_remove() is called with a negative id, and list_del() runs on the not-yet-initialized ovcs->ovcs_list, dereferencing NULL.

Risk Assessment

A NULL pointer dereference in the kernel can cause a system crash (oops/panic), and on systems configured to panic on oops it can halt the entire host.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix where free_overlay_changeset() treats only a strict-positive id as registered.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: of/overlay: only treat a positive changeset id as registered of_overlay_fdt_apply() stores the idr_alloc() return value in ovcs->id before checking it. On failure the stored id is negative, free_overlay_changeset()'s "if (ovcs->id)" check passes, idr_remove() is called with a negative id and list_del() runs on ovcs->ovcs_list, which is not initialized until after the id allocation. An allocation failure at that point dereferences NULL. Make free_overlay_changeset() treat only a strict-positive id as registered. The rest of the function already copes with a partially-initialized ovcs, so the error path stays a plain goto err_free_ovcs.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS