Kernel crash via null _BIX version element
Published Sep 24, 2026 · Updated Sep 24, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in Linux allows attackers to crash the kernel when firmware returns a malformed ACPI _BIX package. acpi_ns_custom_package() dereferences the package's first element as the _BIX version without checking whether an unresolvable reference evaluated to NULL. Reachability requires firmware that supplies this fixed-position malformed package; the resulting failure is a kernel crash rather than data access or modification.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in Linux allows attackers to crash the kernel when firmware returns a malformed ACPI _BIX package. acpi_ns_custom_package() dereferences the package's first element as the _BIX version without checking whether an unresolvable reference evaluated to NULL. Reachability requires firmware that supplies this fixed-position malformed package; the resulting failure is a kernel crash rather than data access or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-97446
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 24, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 24, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <6.12.111
- Affected versionversion=0 <6.18.53
- Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3762c6c8ae5073892d7cec736cc54270c7c9ce90
- Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3cbf096a478f4fa03953f0685ad28c9c82ce67cb
- Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f8d14b7bb0063bbbd86c0e4d73edb8cea7b362bc
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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