What is CVE-2026-45968?

CVE-2026-45968 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 4.14 onward and patched in 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165 and others. CVE-2026-45968 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-45968?

CVE-2026-45968 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-2026-45968?

Yes, CVE-2026-45968 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-45968 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-45968 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-2026-45968

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cpuidle: Skip governor when only one idle state is available On certain platforms (PowerNV systems without a power-mgt DT node), cpuidle may register only a single idle state. In cases where that single state is a polling state (state 0), the ladder governor may incorrectly treat state 1 as the first usable state and pass an out-of-bounds index. This can lead to a NULL enter callback being invoked, ultimately resulting in a system crash. [ 13.342636] cpuidle-powernv : Only Snooze is available [ 13.351854] Faulting instruction address: 0x00000000 [ 13.376489] NIP [0000000000000000] 0x0 [ 13.378351] LR [c000000001e01974] cpuidle_enter_state+0x2c4/0x668 Fix this by adding a bail-out in cpuidle_select() that returns state 0 directly when state_count <= 1, bypassing the governor and keeping the tick running.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-05-27

Last modified 2026-06-16

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-2026-45968 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 4.14 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75, 6.18.14, 6.19.4, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.14

Fixed in

✓ 5.10.252 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.202 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.165 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.128 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.75 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.14 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.4 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

8 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4da2b897283c39980d6ae09dc1560fcd937879e5

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5c577ac939bca486cb02069505cfe47a5312ce02

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5d103a38e2ae96eca57fd17161bcd29bd4622d1c

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/63ae78336f40bcd9a44952a7c6bafb9c88a8effd

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f6833d919bae915ead6c599a53e81e19b32da52

Patch

Showing 5 of 8 references View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-45968

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-05-27

Modified 2026-06-16

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-45968?

CVE-2026-45968 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 4.14 onward and has been patched in 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165 and others. CVE-2026-45968 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-45968?

CVE-2026-45968 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-2026-45968?

Yes. CVE-2026-45968 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-45968 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-45968 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.