Medium [CVE-2026-74477] Fix NULL pointer dereference in hprobe_expire
This medium-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-74477.
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Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: uprobes: Fix NULL pointer dereference in hprobe_expire() Forking a task that has a pending uretprobe can oops the kernel with a NULL pointer dereference in the clone() path: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000018 Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP NOPTI RIP: 0010:hprobe_expire CR2: 0000000000000018 Call Trace: uprobe_copy_process copy_process kernel_clone __x64_sys_clone do_syscall_64 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe This was found on real hosts on Meta fleet.
I've got the impression that this is what is happening: CPU 1 CPU 2 (traced task) ----- ------------------- hit uprobe, prepare_uretprobe(): hprobe LEASED, refcount >= 1 uprobe_unregister() put_uprobe(): refcount -> 0 fork() -> dup_utask() hprobe_expire(hprobe, true) try_get_uprobe() -> NULL get_uprobe(NULL) <-- Oops Only take the extra reference when the uprobe is non-NULL; a NULL means it is gone and is the correct value to return.
A local attacker could exploit a race condition by forking a task with a pending uretprobe while another CPU unregisters the uprobe. This could lead to a NULL pointer dereference in the hprobe_expire() function, causing a kernel oops and resulting in a system crash, effectively 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.
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 1 hour 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 1 hour 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 1 hour ago·verify at source
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