What is CVE-2026-22987?

CVE-2026-22987 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 6.17 onward and patched in 6.18.6 and 6.19. CVE-2026-22987 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-22987?

CVE-2026-22987 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-2026-22987?

Yes, CVE-2026-22987 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.6 and 6.19. If you are running Linux kernel 6.17 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-22987 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-22987 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-2026-22987

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: act_api: avoid dereferencing ERR_PTR in tcf_idrinfo_destroy syzbot reported a crash in tc_act_in_hw() during netns teardown where tcf_idrinfo_destroy() passed an ERR_PTR(-EBUSY) value as a tc_action pointer, leading to an invalid dereference. Guard against ERR_PTR entries when iterating the action IDR so teardown does not call tc_act_in_hw() on an error pointer.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-01-23

Last modified 2026-02-26

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-2026-22987 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 6.17 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.6, 6.19 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.17

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.6 6.18.x ✓ 6.19

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-22987 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/67550a1130b647bb0d093c9c0a810c69aa6a30a8
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/adb25a46dc0a43173f5ea5f5f58fc8ba28970c7c
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-22987

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-01-23

Modified 2026-02-26

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-22987?

CVE-2026-22987 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 6.17 onward and has been patched in 6.18.6 and 6.19. CVE-2026-22987 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-22987?

CVE-2026-22987 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-2026-22987?

Yes — CVE-2026-22987 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.6 and 6.19. If you are running Linux kernel 6.17 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-22987 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2026-22987 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 →