Local kernel crash via unchecked VHCI driver data
Published Sep 24, 2026 · Updated Sep 24, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel branches before 6.12.111 or 6.18.53 allows local users to crash the kernel via sysfs. After a VHCI host-controller probe fails, status_show_vhci() passes the NULL platform_get_drvdata() result to hcd_to_vhci_hcd() and dereferences the offset pointer. Exploitation requires the usbip VHCI driver, a failed probe such as USB bus-number exhaustion, and a read of the controller's status attribute.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel branches before 6.12.111 or 6.18.53 allows local users to crash the kernel via sysfs. After a VHCI host-controller probe fails, status_show_vhci() passes the NULL platform_get_drvdata() result to hcd_to_vhci_hcd() and dereferences the offset pointer. Exploitation requires the usbip VHCI driver, a failed probe such as USB bus-number exhaustion, and a read of the controller's status attribute.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-97484
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 24, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
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 <046a94fdb02eb1df86c8fa4614104ff801ba3ab7
- Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <bc150783542ba2e7c1257d1299c6f3269bdba270
- Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <dacd7c317ba12e035653c28a0eaaf23d91abc073
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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