---
id: CVE-2026-99160
title: 'ring-buffer: Do not show buffer_meta for CPUs without a buffer'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  ring-buffer: Do not show buffer_meta for CPUs without a buffer

  The per_cpu/cpuN/buffer_meta files are created for every possible CPU,
  but buffer->buffers[cpu] is only …
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 950032ffcee7a43c960951940059afc5a2bdbcbc <
    8512d0312cc0ea83ca4511b164c29a138bbb0c21
  - >-
    Linux >= 950032ffcee7a43c960951940059afc5a2bdbcbc <
    ae670c1a24fb5ffb167f26358cf47a5f0abbd670
  - >-
    Linux >= 950032ffcee7a43c960951940059afc5a2bdbcbc <
    3f23cae09a4677a3f7c163a68388512cb231ff22
  - Linux 6.12
published: '2026-10-28'
updated: '2026-10-28'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-28T10:35:13.341Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-99160'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8512d0312cc0ea83ca4511b164c29a138bbb0c21'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ae670c1a24fb5ffb167f26358cf47a5f0abbd670'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f23cae09a4677a3f7c163a68388512cb231ff22'
tags:
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-28T11:09:40.405Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ring-buffer: Do not show buffer_meta for CPUs without a buffer

The per_cpu/cpuN/buffer_meta files are created for every possible CPU,
but buffer->buffers[cpu] is only allocated once that CPU comes online.
Reading the file of a CPU that never came online dereferences a NULL
cpu_buffer in rbm_start().

Fail the open with -ENODEV when the CPU has no buffer, as the other
per CPU ring buffer interfaces do.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 950032ffcee7a43c960951940059afc5a2bdbcbc < 8512d0312cc0ea83ca4511b164c29a138bbb0c21`
- `Linux >= 950032ffcee7a43c960951940059afc5a2bdbcbc < ae670c1a24fb5ffb167f26358cf47a5f0abbd670`
- `Linux >= 950032ffcee7a43c960951940059afc5a2bdbcbc < 3f23cae09a4677a3f7c163a68388512cb231ff22`
- `Linux 6.12`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.