Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-23309

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 6.1.165 – 6.1.167

Published
25 March 2026
Modified
28 May 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 0.0012 2th percentile
Risk Priority 40 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-23309 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 Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked at the 2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as Other Platforms; in the Not Applicable risk domain.

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: tracing: Add NULL pointer check to trigger_data_free() If trigger_data_alloc() fails and returns NULL, event_hist_trigger_parse() jumps to the out_free error path. While kfree() safely handles a NULL pointer, trigger_data_free() does not.…

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This causes a NULL pointer dereference in trigger_data_free() when evaluating data->cmd_ops->set_filter. Fix the problem by adding a NULL pointer check to trigger_data_free(). The problem was found by an experimental code review agent based on gemini-3.1-pro while reviewing backports into v6.18.y.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
Other Platforms
Risk Domain
Not Applicable
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: gemini

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
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.
T1489 Service Stop Impact
Adversaries may stop or disable services on a system to render those services unavailable to legitimate users.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

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CVE-2025-22007Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-38559Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-53355Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
7.0 · 6.1.165 — 6.1.167 · 6.6.128 — 6.6.130 · 6.12.75 — 6.12.77

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
prevents

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 SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.

prevents

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

References