GHSA-HC5C-G24X-PP6P
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-08-22 18:30 – Updated: 2026-08-22 18:30In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in module event cache removal
A module-only event filter such as ":mod:foo" is cached with a NULL event_mod->match when foo has not been loaded. If a later write tries to remove a specific match from the same module, remove_cache_mod() passes the NULL cached match to strcmp(), causing a NULL pointer dereference.
The issue can be reproduced from userspace:
echo ':mod:trace_events_kunit_missing' > /sys/kernel/tracing/set_event echo '!foo_bar:mod:trace_events_kunit_missing' >> /sys/kernel/tracing/set_event
The second write must be a concatenation (">>") to not include O_TRUNC as that would cause ftrace_clear_events() to clear the cached modules lines.
The crash was reproduced on x86_64 QEMU while KUnit workers contended on the event tracing path:
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode RIP: 0010:strcmp+0x10/0x30 Call Trace: __ftrace_set_clr_event_nolock+0x373/0x4a0 ftrace_set_clr_event+0xf0/0x180 ftrace_event_write+0xdf/0x110 vfs_write+0xf6/0x440 ksys_write+0x68/0xe0 do_syscall_64+0xf9/0x540 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
Check event_mod->match before comparing it, consistent with the existing NULL checks for the cached system and event fields. The mismatched removal continues to return -EINVAL; a broad cached module filter is removed with "!:mod:".
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-74633"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-08-22T16:16:36Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ntracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in module event cache removal\n\nA module-only event filter such as \":mod:foo\" is cached with a NULL\nevent_mod-\u003ematch when foo has not been loaded. If a later write tries to\nremove a specific match from the same module, remove_cache_mod() passes\nthe NULL cached match to strcmp(), causing a NULL pointer dereference.\n\nThe issue can be reproduced from userspace:\n\n echo \u0027:mod:trace_events_kunit_missing\u0027 \u003e /sys/kernel/tracing/set_event\n echo \u0027!foo_bar:mod:trace_events_kunit_missing\u0027 \u003e\u003e /sys/kernel/tracing/set_event\n\nThe second write must be a concatenation (\"\u003e\u003e\") to not include O_TRUNC as\nthat would cause ftrace_clear_events() to clear the cached modules lines.\n\nThe crash was reproduced on x86_64 QEMU while KUnit workers contended on\nthe event tracing path:\n\n BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000\n #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode\n RIP: 0010:strcmp+0x10/0x30\n Call Trace:\n __ftrace_set_clr_event_nolock+0x373/0x4a0\n ftrace_set_clr_event+0xf0/0x180\n ftrace_event_write+0xdf/0x110\n vfs_write+0xf6/0x440\n ksys_write+0x68/0xe0\n do_syscall_64+0xf9/0x540\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f\n\nCheck event_mod-\u003ematch before comparing it, consistent with the existing\nNULL checks for the cached system and event fields. The mismatched removal\ncontinues to return -EINVAL; a broad cached module filter is removed with\n\"!:mod:\u003cmodule\u003e\".",
"id": "GHSA-hc5c-g24x-pp6p",
"modified": "2026-08-22T18:30:27Z",
"published": "2026-08-22T18:30:27Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74633"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/152a00440dc6ef62c6e4cf9bd881a7e6bb81fda9"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad4e9dd5fec7a322a471ff36fb9c76214e3c6992"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b69859204d4db3acd86c1c2dadcef0d77b451933"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
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Nomenclature
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- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
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- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.