Kernel service interruption via stale NULL LZMA decoder
Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
A NULL-pointer dereference in Linux EROFS LZMA decoding allows attackers to interrupt kernel service through an existing compressed mount. The pool-resize path frees an old decoder before allocating its replacement, yet advances the global maximum after a partial allocation failure, leaving a stream with NULL state that later reaches xz_dec_microlzma_reset(). Triggering the failure requires an existing LZMA-compressed EROFS mount, memory-allocation failure during decoder-pool resizing, and subsequent selection of the broken stream.
Summary
What happened
A NULL-pointer dereference in Linux EROFS LZMA decoding allows attackers to interrupt kernel service through an existing compressed mount. The pool-resize path frees an old decoder before allocating its replacement, yet advances the global maximum after a partial allocation failure, leaving a stream with NULL state that later reaches xz_dec_microlzma_reset(). Triggering the failure requires an existing LZMA-compressed EROFS mount, memory-allocation failure during decoder-pool resizing, and subsequent selection of the broken stream.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-97605
- Published
- Sep 25, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 25, 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=5.16
- Affected versionversion=622ceaddb7649ca328832f50ba1400af778d75fa <0b3c8c39e50249470f00a5f73c288b95a55ab576
- Affected versionversion=622ceaddb7649ca328832f50ba1400af778d75fa <38e9e07ac02a9453a117410776f1502a9980997e
- Affected versionversion=622ceaddb7649ca328832f50ba1400af778d75fa <604ce546e1b9f35b1f45588004f53fac6b2869c1
- Affected versionversion=622ceaddb7649ca328832f50ba1400af778d75fa <617d0d8d199ba1790c94310fd75a22d01c97a8d6
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
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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