CVE-2026-45966

Source
https://cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45966
Import Source
https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-45966.json
JSON Data
https://api.test.osv.dev/v1/vulns/CVE-2026-45966
Downstream
Published
2026-05-27T12:18:24.300Z
Modified
2026-05-29T04:03:08.874681359Z
Summary
apparmor: fix NULL pointer dereference in __unix_needs_revalidation
Details

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

apparmor: fix NULL pointer dereference in __unixneedsrevalidation

When receiving file descriptors via SCM_RIGHTS, both the socket pointer and the socket's sk pointer can be NULL during socket setup or teardown, causing NULL pointer dereferences in __unixneedsrevalidation().

This is a regression in AppArmor 5.0.0 (kernel 6.17+) where the new __unixneedsrevalidation() function was added without proper NULL checks.

The crash manifests as: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0x0000000000000018 RIP: aafileperm+0xb7/0x3b0 (or +0xbe/0x3b0, +0xc0/0x3e0) Call Trace: apparmorfilereceive+0x42/0x80 securityfilereceive+0x2e/0x50 receivefd+0x1d/0xf0 scmdetach_fds+0xad/0x1c0

The function dereferences sock->sk->sk_family without checking if either sock or sock->sk is NULL first.

Add NULL checks for both sock and sock->sk before accessing sk_family.

Database specific
{
    "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/45xxx/CVE-2026-45966.json",
    "cna_assigner": "Linux"
}
References

Affected packages

Git / git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git

Affected ranges

Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
88fec3526e84123997ecebd6bb6778eb4ce779b7
Fixed
fea017a7f6abe179decf575a2d8464c74edb3964
Fixed
e85bc9101afc4202aa2269967ce9d3ffbecd0994
Fixed
e2938ad00b21340c0362562dfedd7cfec0554d67

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-45966.json"

Linux / Kernel

Package

Name
Kernel

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.17.0
Fixed
6.18.14
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.19.0
Fixed
6.19.4

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-45966.json"