In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: taprio: fix NULL...

Description

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

net/sched: taprio: fix NULL pointer dereference in class dump

When a TAPRIO child qdisc is deleted via RTM_DELQDISC, taprio_graft()
is called with new == NULL and stores NULL into q->qdiscs[cl - 1].
Subsequent RTM_GETTCLASS dump operations walk all classes via
taprio_walk() and call taprio_dump_class(), which calls taprio_leaf()
returning the NULL pointer, then dereferences it to read child->handle,
causing a kernel NULL pointer dereference.

The bug is reachable with namespace-scoped CAP_NET_ADMIN on any kernel
with CONFIG_NET_SCH_TAPRIO enabled. On systems with unprivileged user
namespaces enabled, an unprivileged local user can trigger a kernel
panic by creating a taprio qdisc inside a new network namespace,
grafting an explicit child qdisc, deleting it, and requesting a class
dump. The RTM_GETTCLASS dump itself requires no capability.

Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000007: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000038-0x000000000000003f]
RIP: 0010:taprio_dump_class (net/sched/sch_taprio.c:2478)
Call Trace:
<TASK>
tc_fill_tclass (net/sched/sch_api.c:1966)
qdisc_class_dump (net/sched/sch_api.c:2326)
taprio_walk (net/sched/sch_taprio.c:2514)
tc_dump_tclass_qdisc (net/sched/sch_api.c:2352)
tc_dump_tclass_root (net/sched/sch_api.c:2370)
tc_dump_tclass (net/sched/sch_api.c:2431)
rtnl_dumpit (net/core/rtnetlink.c:6864)
netlink_dump (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2325)
rtnetlink_rcv_msg (net/core/rtnetlink.c:6959)
netlink_rcv_skb (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550)
</TASK>

Fix this by substituting &noop_qdisc when new is NULL in
taprio_graft(), a common pattern used by other qdiscs (e.g.,
multiq_graft()) to ensure the q->qdiscs[] slots are never NULL.
This makes control-plane dump paths safe without requiring individual
NULL checks.

Since the data-plane paths (taprio_enqueue and taprio_dequeue_from_txq)
previously had explicit NULL guards that would drop/skip the packet
cleanly, update those checks to test for &noop_qdisc instead. Without
this, packets would reach taprio_enqueue_one() which increments the root
qdisc's qlen and backlog before calling the child's enqueue; noop_qdisc
drops the packet but those counters are never rolled back, permanently
inflating the root qdisc's statistics.

After this change old can be a valid qdisc, NULL, or &noop_qdisc.
Only call qdisc_put(
old) in the first case to avoid decreasing
noop_qdisc's refcount, which was never increased.

Basic information

Type
unreviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2026-05-27 12:31:24 UTC
Updated
2026-06-26 21:33:10 UTC
NVD published
2026-05-27

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.11% 1.44%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.5 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence