Answer in brief
CVE-2026-98043 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in bpf: Don't infer non-NULL from a pointer with an unbounded offset. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | >=cac616db39c207dc63465a4e05c6ce0e60b2cce4 <cb6642048739bf4ee5aa09fe465511f1e87caa63 || >=cac616db39c207dc63465a4e05c6ce0e60b2cce4 <67b529f521a6676cdfc78b91b0217d7eaa84216b | cb6642048739bf4ee5aa09fe465511f1e87caa63, 67b529f521a6676cdfc78b91b0217d7eaa84216b |
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | 5.8 | Not reported |
Published upstream
Sep 25, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Sep 25, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Sep 25, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Don't infer non-NULL from a pointer with an unbounded offset reg_not_null() decides that a register holds a non-NULL value by looking at its type alone. For pointer types that allow arithmetic the type only guarantees a non-NULL base, in case of an unbound offset the runtime offset value might still add up to NULL. Consider the followng program: r6 = bpf_map_lookup_elem(map, &0); /* present */ if (r6 == 0) return 0; r7 = bpf_map_lookup_elem(map, &1); /* absent, NULL at runtime */ r8 = r7; r8 -= r6; /* pointer - pointer: unknown scalar, -r6 */ r8 <<= 1; r8 >>= 1; /* any non-negative offset is accepted by */ /* check_reg_sane_offset_ptr() */ r6 += r8; /* verifier: map value; runtime: zero */ if (r7 != r6) return 0; *(u8 *)(r7 + 0); /* r7 is inferred non-NULL, both are zero */ At runtime both registers are zero, the comparison is true and the load faults with NULL pointer dereference. Require the offset to be within +-BPF_MAX_VAR_OFF in reg_not_null().
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.