Medium [CVE-2026-72013] Prevent NULL pointer dereference in machine_kexec_prepare
This medium-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-72013.
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Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: Prevent NULL pointer dereference in machine_kexec_prepare() A NULL pointer dereference issue is noticed in riscv's machine_kexec_prepare(), where image->segment[i].buf might be NULL and copied unchecked.
The NULL buf comes from ima_add_kexec_buffer(), where kbuf is added by kexec_add_buffer(), but kbuf.buffer is NULL, then it is copied without a check in machine_kexec_prepare(): kexec_file_load -> kimage_file_alloc_init() -> kimage_file_prepare_segments() -> ima_add_kexec_buffer() -> kexec_add_buffer() -> machine_kexec_prepare() -> memcpy() Address this by adding a check before the data copy attempt.
Specifically, within the riscv architecture's `machine_kexec_prepare()` function, a NULL pointer dereference can occur. This vulnerability arises when a NULL buffer is copied without proper validation during the kexec preparation process.
An attacker could potentially exploit this to cause a system crash, leading to a denial of service. Red Hat severity: Moderate — CVSS 5.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
Weakness: CWE-476. Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 as not affected.
Affected versions
No affected-version range was extracted from the source record. The vendor advisory is authoritative — check it before change work.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 25 days ago·verify at source
Fixed versions
No fixed release is recorded yet. That does not prove no patch exists — confirm against the vendor advisory.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 25 days ago·verify at source
Mitigation
The source record does not include mitigation steps. That is not a statement that no fix exists — read the vendor advisory below for the authoritative guidance.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 25 days ago·verify at source
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