CVE-2026-80730

Kernel panic via unchecked error pointer cleanup

Published Sep 3, 2026 · Updated Sep 3, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel allows attackers to panic the kernel during the ring-buffer late-init self-test. The test_ringbuffer() cleanup loop treats an ERR_PTR returned by kthread_run_on_cpu() as a valid thread and passes it to kthread_stop(), which dereferences the bogus pointer. The failure occurs only when kernel-thread creation returns ENOMEM or EINTR during the boot-time self-test; no attacker-controlled trigger is published.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.21%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel allows attackers to panic the kernel during the ring-buffer late-init self-test. The test_ringbuffer() cleanup loop treats an ERR_PTR returned by kthread_run_on_cpu() as a valid thread and passes it to kthread_stop(), which dereferences the bogus pointer. The failure occurs only when kernel-thread creation returns ENOMEM or EINTR during the boot-time self-test; no attacker-controlled trigger is published.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-80730
Published
Sep 3, 2026
Updated
Sep 3, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
Unavailable
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 3, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 3, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.17
  2. Affected versionversion=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <3ea2fd344d93e3cf9503739b09fd702c0d8f8f0b
  3. Affected versionversion=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <51d78fad30dd9ae45721224103662bdbcf210096
  4. Affected versionversion=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <6dd7a06894d6d3dc84319bd0b7d1a7c27df9d902
  5. Affected versionversion=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <8532983c312e8b875d7c9e440f8ee4674ea4b711
  6. Affected versionversion=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <91542863abade2fd4f2b361991f5386ad9d19c8c
  7. Affected versionversion=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <93e7044b548a72022208595d2c1b188bb225ce83

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorUnavailable in this record.
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.17; version=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <3ea2fd344d93e3cf9503739b09fd702c0d8f8f0b; version=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <51d78fad30dd9ae45721224103662bdbcf210096; version=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <6dd7a06894d6d3dc84319bd0b7d1a7c27df9d902; version=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <8532983c312e8b875d7c9e440f8ee4674ea4b711; version=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <91542863abade2fd4f2b361991f5386ad9d19c8c; version=64ed3a049e3e81b801e7c5bb052416152443f585 <93e7044b548a72022208595d2c1b188bb225ce83

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
VectorUnavailable
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

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