What is CVE-2026-23117?

CVE-2026-23117 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 6.18.2 onward and patched in 6.18.8. CVE-2026-23117 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23117?

CVE-2026-23117 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-2026-23117?

Yes, CVE-2026-23117 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.8. If you are running Linux kernel 6.18.2 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-23117 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-23117 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-2026-23117

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: add missing ice_deinit_hw() in devlink reinit path devlink-reload results in ice_init_hw failed error, and then removing the ice driver causes a NULL pointer dereference. [ +0.102213] ice 0000:ca:00.0: ice_init_hw failed: -16 ... [ +0.000001] Call Trace: [ +0.000003] <TASK> [ +0.000006] ice_unload+0x8f/0x100 [ice] [ +0.000081] ice_remove+0xba/0x300 [ice] Commit 1390b8b3d2be ("ice: remove duplicate call to ice_deinit_hw() on error paths") removed ice_deinit_hw() from ice_deinit_dev(). As a result ice_devlink_reinit_down() no longer calls ice_deinit_hw(), but ice_devlink_reinit_up() still calls ice_init_hw(). Since the control queues are not uninitialized, ice_init_hw() fails with -EBUSY. Add ice_deinit_hw() to ice_devlink_reinit_down() to correspond with ice_init_hw() in ice_devlink_reinit_up().

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-02-14

Last modified 2026-03-18

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-2026-23117 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 6.18.2 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.8 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.18.2

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.8 6.18.x

References

2 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42fb5f3deb582cb96440e4683745017dbabb83d6

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3d99e2fbf01446d31a0d0dfc46444e915a1f6d4

Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-23117

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-02-14

Modified 2026-03-18

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23117?

CVE-2026-23117 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 6.18.2 onward and has been patched in 6.18.8. CVE-2026-23117 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23117?

CVE-2026-23117 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-2026-23117?

Yes. CVE-2026-23117 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.8. If you are running Linux kernel 6.18.2 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-23117 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-23117 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.