Security Resilience

CVE-2026-23237

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 2.6.33.1 – 5.10.251

Published
04 March 2026
Modified
17 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0020 10th percentile
Risk Priority 41 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-23237 is a medium-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 10th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: platform/x86: classmate-laptop: Add missing NULL pointer checks In a few places in the Classmate laptop driver, code using the accel object may run before that object's address is stored in…

more

the driver data of the input device using it. For example, cmpc_accel_sensitivity_store_v4() is the "show" method of cmpc_accel_sensitivity_attr_v4 which is added in cmpc_accel_add_v4(), before calling dev_set_drvdata() for inputdev->dev. If the sysfs attribute is accessed prematurely, the dev_get_drvdata(&inputdev->dev) call in in cmpc_accel_sensitivity_store_v4() returns NULL which leads to a NULL pointer dereference going forward. Moreover, sysfs attributes using the input device are added before initializing that device by cmpc_add_acpi_notify_device() and if one of them is accessed before running that function, a NULL pointer dereference will occur. For example, cmpc_accel_sensitivity_attr_v4 is added before calling cmpc_add_acpi_notify_device() and if it is read prematurely, the dev_get_drvdata(&acpi->dev) call in cmpc_accel_sensitivity_show_v4() returns NULL which leads to a NULL pointer dereference going forward. Fix this by adding NULL pointer checks in all of the relevant places.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1687 Exploitation for Defense Impairment Defense Impairment
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities in security software, infrastructure, or defensive components to degrade, disable, or otherwise continue to impair their ability to prevent, detect, or respond to malicious activity.
T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

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CVE-2026-43441Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-49857Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-46693Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
2.6.33, 6.19 · 2.6.33.1 — 5.10.251 · 5.11 — 5.15.201 · 5.16 — 6.1.164

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) directly finds null-dereference bugs before deployment.

Documented development standards and tools can enforce null-safety rules and safe pointer usage.

Engineering principles can mandate defensive coding such as explicit null checks before dereference.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect NULL dereference defects before release.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.

References