What is CVE-2026-22985?

CVE-2026-22985 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476), affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.7 onward and patched in 6.12.80, 6.18.6 and 6.19. CVE-2026-22985 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-22985?

CVE-2026-22985 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-22985?

Yes, CVE-2026-22985 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.80, 6.18.6 and 6.19. If you are running Linux kernel 6.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-22985 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-22985 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2026-22985

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: idpf: Fix RSS LUT NULL pointer crash on early ethtool operations The RSS LUT is not initialized until the interface comes up, causing the following NULL pointer crash when ethtool operations like rxhash on/off are performed before the interface is brought up for the first time. Move RSS LUT initialization from ndo_open to vport creation to ensure LUT is always available. This enables RSS configuration via ethtool before bringing the interface up. Simplify LUT management by maintaining all changes in the driver's soft copy and programming zeros to the indirection table when rxhash is disabled. Defer HW programming until the interface comes up if it is down during rxhash and LUT configuration changes. Steps to reproduce: ** Load idpf driver; interfaces will be created modprobe idpf ** Before bringing the interfaces up, turn rxhash off ethtool -K eth2 rxhash off [89408.371875] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 [89408.371908] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [89408.371924] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [89408.371940] PGD 0 P4D 0 [89408.371953] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI <snip> [89408.372052] RIP: 0010:memcpy_orig+0x16/0x130 [89408.372310] Call Trace: [89408.372317] <TASK> [89408.372326] ? idpf_set_features+0xfc/0x180 [idpf] [89408.372363] __netdev_update_features+0x295/0xde0 [89408.372384] ethnl_set_features+0x15e/0x460 [89408.372406] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x11f/0x180 [89408.372429] genl_rcv_msg+0x1ad/0x2b0 [89408.372446] ? __pfx_ethnl_set_features+0x10/0x10 [89408.372465] ? __pfx_genl_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10 [89408.372482] netlink_rcv_skb+0x58/0x100 [89408.372502] genl_rcv+0x2c/0x50 [89408.372516] netlink_unicast+0x289/0x3e0 [89408.372533] netlink_sendmsg+0x215/0x440 [89408.372551] __sys_sendto+0x234/0x240 [89408.372571] __x64_sys_sendto+0x28/0x30 [89408.372585] x64_sys_call+0x1909/0x1da0 [89408.372604] do_syscall_64+0x7a/0xfa0 [89408.373140] ? clear_bhb_loop+0x60/0xb0 [89408.373647] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [89408.378887] </TASK> <snip>

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-01-23

Last modified 2026-04-02

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2026-22985 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.7 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.80, 6.18.6, 6.19 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.7

Fixed in

✓ 6.12.80 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.6 6.18.x ✓ 6.19

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-22985 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83f38f210b85676f40ba8586b5a8edae19b56995
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b29a5a7dd1f4293ee49c469938c25bf85a5aa802
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/df2790b5228fbd3ed415b70a231cffdad0431618
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-22985

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-01-23

Modified 2026-04-02

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-22985?

CVE-2026-22985 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.7 onward and has been patched in 6.12.80, 6.18.6 and 6.19. CVE-2026-22985 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-22985?

CVE-2026-22985 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-22985?

Yes — CVE-2026-22985 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.80, 6.18.6 and 6.19. If you are running Linux kernel 6.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-22985 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2026-22985 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. View CWE-476 on MITRE CWE →