NULL Pointer Dereference Affecting libperf package, versions *


Severity

Recommended
0.0
medium
0
10

Based on CentOS security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.03% (7th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-CENTOS10-LIBPERF-15178100
  • published3 Feb 2026
  • disclosed31 Jan 2026

Introduced: 31 Jan 2026

CVE-2026-23017  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-476  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

There is no fixed version for Centos:10 libperf.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream libperf package and not the libperf package as distributed by Centos. See How to fix? for Centos:10 relevant fixed versions and status.

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

idpf: fix error handling in the init_task on load

If the init_task fails during a driver load, we end up without vports and netdevs, effectively failing the entire process. In that state a subsequent reset will result in a crash as the service task attempts to access uninitialized resources. Following trace is from an error in the init_task where the CREATE_VPORT (op 501) is rejected by the FW:

[40922.763136] idpf 0000:83:00.0: Device HW Reset initiated [40924.449797] idpf 0000:83:00.0: Transaction failed (op 501) [40958.148190] idpf 0000:83:00.0: HW reset detected [40958.161202] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000a8 ... [40958.168094] Workqueue: idpf-0000:83:00.0-vc_event idpf_vc_event_task [idpf] [40958.168865] RIP: 0010:idpf_vc_event_task+0x9b/0x350 [idpf] ... [40958.177932] Call Trace: [40958.178491] <TASK> [40958.179040] process_one_work+0x226/0x6d0 [40958.179609] worker_thread+0x19e/0x340 [40958.180158] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [40958.180702] kthread+0x10f/0x250 [40958.181238] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [40958.181774] ret_from_fork+0x251/0x2b0 [40958.182307] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [40958.182834] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [40958.183370] </TASK>

Fix the error handling in the init_task to make sure the service and mailbox tasks are disabled if the error happens during load. These are started in idpf_vc_core_init(), which spawns the init_task and has no way of knowing if it failed. If the error happens on reset, following successful driver load, the tasks can still run, as that will allow the netdevs to attempt recovery through another reset. Stop the PTP callbacks either way as those will be restarted by the call to idpf_vc_core_init() during a successful reset.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1