CVE-2026-64538
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: Fix null-ptr-deref in fib6_nh_mtu_change(). fib6_nh_mtu_change() re-fetches idev via __in6_dev_get(arg->dev) and dereferences idev->cnf.mtu6 without a NULL check. addrconf_ifdown() clears dev->ip6_ptr with RCU_INIT_POINTER() after rt6_disable_ip() has released tb6_lock, so the RA-driven MTU walk can observe a NULL idev and oops. The caller rt6_mtu_change_route() guards its own __in6_dev_get(), but this re-fetch is unguarded; nexthop-backed routes survive addrconf_ifdown()'s flush, so the walk still reaches it after ip6_ptr is nulled. Return 0 when idev is NULL, matching rt6_mtu_change_route() and the fib6_mtu() fix in commit 5ad509c1fdad ("ipv6: Fix null-ptr-deref in fib6_mtu()."). Oops: general protection fault, ... KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000002a8-0x00000000000002af] RIP: 0010:fib6_nh_mtu_change+0x203/0x990 rt6_mtu_change_route+0x141/0x1d0 __fib6_clean_all+0xd0/0x160 rt6_mtu_change+0xb4/0x100 ndisc_router_discovery+0x24b5/0x2cb0 icmpv6_rcv+0x12e9/0x1710 ipv6_rcv+0x39b/0x410
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
5.3
and later are affected. Fixed in
5.10.261,
5.15.212,
6.1.178,
6.6.145,
6.12.97,
6.18.40,
7.1.5,
7.2-rc1
and their respective stable series.
References
8 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-64538?
CVE-2026-64538 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.3 onward and has been patched in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. CVE-2026-64538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-64538?
Yes. CVE-2026-64538 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.3 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-64538 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-64538 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.