Vulnerability Database

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Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2026-31458 — linux / linux_kernel

NULL Pointer Dereference

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

mm/damon/sysfs: check contexts->nr before accessing contexts_arr[0]

Multiple sysfs command paths dereference contexts_arr[0] without first verifying that kdamond->contexts->nr == 1. A user can set nr_contexts to 0 via sysfs while DAMON is running, causing NULL pointer dereferences.

In more detail, the issue can be triggered by privileged users like below.

First, start DAMON and make contexts directory empty (kdamond->contexts->nr == 0).

# damo start # cd /sys/kernel/mm/damon/admin/kdamonds/0 # echo 0 > contexts/nr_contexts

Then, each of below commands will cause the NULL pointer dereference.

# echo update_schemes_stats > state # echo update_schemes_tried_regions > state # echo update_schemes_tried_bytes > state # echo update_schemes_effective_quotas > state # echo update_tuned_intervals > state

Guard all commands (except OFF) at the entry point of damon_sysfs_handle_cmd().

  • Published: Apr 22, 2026
  • Updated: May 6, 2026
  • CVE: CVE-2026-31458
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 5.5
  • AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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