Local denial of service via unarmed waiter
Published Jun 25, 2026 · Updated Jun 25, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux Kernel rtmutex subsystem allows local users to crash the system via FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI. During deadlock detection, task_blocks_on_rt_mutex() leaves waiter->task null, but rt_mutex_start_proxy_lock() still calls remove_waiter() after successful lock acquisition. A local low-privileged process must invoke the priority-inheritance futex requeue path; the resulting null dereference interrupts system availability without reported data exposure or modification.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux Kernel rtmutex subsystem allows local users to crash the system via FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI. During deadlock detection, task_blocks_on_rt_mutex() leaves waiter->task null, but rt_mutex_start_proxy_lock() still calls remove_waiter() after successful lock acquisition. A local low-privileged process must invoke the priority-inheritance futex requeue path; the resulting null dereference interrupts system availability without reported data exposure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-53163
- Published
- Jun 25, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-476
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=3bfdc63936dd4773109b7b8c280c0f3b5ae7d349 <40a25d59e85b3c8709ac2424d44f65610467871e
- Affected versionversion=3fb7394a837740770f0d6b4b30567e60786a63f2 <a388e3dfaf9538a680de5ed43a8ebb5dd45b6e53
- Affected versionversion=6.1.175 <6.2
- Affected versionversion=6.12.86 <6.13
- Affected versionversion=6.18.27 <6.18.36
- Affected versionversion=6.6.140 <6.7
- Affected versionversion=6d52dfcb2a5db86e346cf51f8fcf2071b8085166
- Affected versionversion=7.0.4 <7.0.13
- Affected versionversion=88614876370aac8ad1050ad785a4c095ba17ac11 <55363fa0a04524d11efeaadee734d2db1756ed27
- Affected versionversion=8a1fc8d698ac5e5916e3082a0f74450d71f9611f
- Affected versionversion=d8cce4773c2b23d819baf5abedc62f7b430e8745
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo