System crash via unchecked RISC-V kexec buffer
Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel RISC-V kexec code allows local users to crash affected systems during kexec file loading. machine_kexec_prepare() copies image->segment[i].buf with memcpy() without checking whether ima_add_kexec_buffer() supplied a NULL buffer. Reachability requires local low-privileged access to a RISC-V system and entry into the kexec file-loading path; the bounded consequence is a system crash.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel RISC-V kexec code allows local users to crash affected systems during kexec file loading. machine_kexec_prepare() copies image->segment[i].buf with memcpy() without checking whether ima_add_kexec_buffer() supplied a NULL buffer. Reachability requires local low-privileged access to a RISC-V system and entry into the kexec file-loading path; the bounded consequence is a system crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-72013
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 15, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=3ba83e46b591381e718007f55c9f831fd0cd7ee8
- Affected versionversion=3ca8a07f141fd8eec347a82bdfa4b94164f2bb97
- Affected versionversion=4211742f0f9e083188f4f0ada00d6eeeef31b7c7 <606cc45e871e34b80a2f63874f069387a5b44176
- Affected versionversion=5.15.47 <5.15.212
- Affected versionversion=5.17.15 <5.18
- Affected versionversion=5.18.4 <5.19
- Affected versionversion=5.19
- Affected versionversion=b7fb4d78a6ade6026d9e5cf438c2a46ab962e032 <6ad6954492697681ebcfc1beb0eb384406cd4b65
- Affected versionversion=b7fb4d78a6ade6026d9e5cf438c2a46ab962e032 <81bbcff0c053c4f5c711c31a9b72fc492bd96c3f
- Affected versionversion=b7fb4d78a6ade6026d9e5cf438c2a46ab962e032 <b5f92cc4e24a298bf390b0b189a4b888c0900161
- Affected versionversion=b7fb4d78a6ade6026d9e5cf438c2a46ab962e032 <c462e15497dc40abe369b3be7a2c91ac5d1be6f9
- Affected versionversion=b7fb4d78a6ade6026d9e5cf438c2a46ab962e032 <d5b2752a17efc165793ae38f2c24b5ed9c04ffde
- Affected versionversion=b7fb4d78a6ade6026d9e5cf438c2a46ab962e032 <eadd0c2c76aee6a738f17f251434c77db3c606c8
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
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