NULL Pointer Dereference Affecting kernel-kvmsmall package, versions <6.12.0-160000.37.1


Severity

Recommended
0.0
medium
0
10

Based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.13% (3rd percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-SLES1600-KERNELKVMSMALL-19299193
  • published27 Aug 2026
  • disclosed11 Aug 2026

Introduced: 11 Aug 2026

NewCVE-2026-43216  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-476  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade SLES:16.0.0 kernel-kvmsmall to version 6.12.0-160000.37.1 or higher.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream kernel-kvmsmall package and not the kernel-kvmsmall package as distributed by SLES. See How to fix? for SLES:16.0.0 relevant fixed versions and status.

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

net: Drop the lock in skb_may_tx_timestamp()

skb_may_tx_timestamp() may acquire sock::sk_callback_lock. The lock must not be taken in IRQ context, only softirq is okay. A few drivers receive the timestamp via a dedicated interrupt and complete the TX timestamp from that handler. This will lead to a deadlock if the lock is already write-locked on the same CPU.

Taking the lock can be avoided. The socket (pointed by the skb) will remain valid until the skb is released. The ->sk_socket and ->file member will be set to NULL once the user closes the socket which may happen before the timestamp arrives. If we happen to observe the pointer while the socket is closing but before the pointer is set to NULL then we may use it because both pointer (and the file's cred member) are RCU freed.

Drop the lock. Use READ_ONCE() to obtain the individual pointer. Add a matching WRITE_ONCE() where the pointer are cleared.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1