{"id":"CVE-2026-98268","title":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu p…","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu p…","severity":"medium","vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","affected":["Linux >= eff95e170275d9e80b968f335cd03d0ac250d2d1 < 7fa9a465ae8f07c0e4685db6edb6a6f984dbd784","Linux >= eff95e170275d9e80b968f335cd03d0ac250d2d1 < 88aed0422f39b22406f35f1e758cea25e7bbcfb5","Linux 7.0"],"published":"2026-10-06","updated":"2026-10-06","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-06T09:18:16.227","source":"NVD","sourceUrl":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98268","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fa9a465ae8f07c0e4685db6edb6a6f984dbd784","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/88aed0422f39b22406f35f1e758cea25e7bbcfb5","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98268.json"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98268"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2546421"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98268"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98268"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98268.mbox"}],"tags":["nvd","cve.org","csaf","vex","red-hat"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-06T08:50:17.425Z","cvss":5.5,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","cvssSource":"vendor","cwe":["CWE-476"],"epss":0.00155,"epssPercentile":0.04636,"slug":"CVE-2026-98268","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf: Fix null pointer access in is_include_guest_event()\n\nA typical module unload occurring event when there is an active perf\nconnection leads to freeing of the pmu pointer. The call log is something\nlike:\n ..\n __pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_event\n pmu_detach_events\n perf_pmu_unregister\n ..\n\n__pmu_detach_event() sets event->pmu to null. When the perf connection\nfinally is closed, the following stack trace is observed:\n\n Oops: general protection fault, kernel NULL pointer dereference\n ...\n RIP: 0010:_free_event+0x3e/0x370\n ...\n Call Trace:\n ...\n perf_event_release_kernel+0x260/0x2d0\n perf_release+0x12/0x20\n\nA call to mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() inside _free_event() is the root\ncause of this crash. Adding a check inside is_include_guest_event() ensures\nwe don't accidentally access a null pmu ptr. In addition to this, we will\nnow call mediated_pmu_unaccount_event() before clearing the pmu ptr so that\nnr_include_guest_events counts are maintained correctly.\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.\n\n## Vendor advisories\n\n- **Red Hat VEX** · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · updated 2026-10-18 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98268.json)","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":30,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":30.3,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[{"seq":219085,"id":"CVE-2026-98268","ts":1791707054863,"field":"cvss","old":null,"new":"5.5"},{"seq":219084,"id":"CVE-2026-98268","ts":1791707054863,"field":"severity","old":"none","new":"medium"}]}