CVE-2026-22976

EPSS 0.0%
  • Published: 2026-01-21T07:16:01.433

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

net/sched: sch_qfq: Fix NULL deref when deactivating inactive aggregate in qfq_reset

`qfq_class->leaf_qdisc->q.qlen > 0` does not imply that the class
itself is active.

Two qfq_class objects may point to the same leaf_qdisc. This happens
when:

1. one QFQ qdisc is attached to the dev as the root qdisc, and

2. another QFQ qdisc is temporarily referenced (e.g., via qdisc_get()
/ qdisc_put()) and is pending to be destroyed, as in function
tc_new_tfilter.

When packets are enqueued through the root QFQ qdisc, the shared
leaf_qdisc->q.qlen increases. At the same time, the second QFQ
qdisc triggers qdisc_put and qdisc_destroy: the qdisc enters
qfq_reset() with its own q->q.qlen == 0, but its class’s leaf
qdisc->q.qlen > 0. Therefore, the qfq_reset would wrongly deactivate
an inactive aggregate and trigger a null-deref in qfq_deactivate_agg:

[ 0.903172] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
[ 0.903571] #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode
[ 0.903860] #PF: error_code(0x0002) – not-present page
[ 0.904177] PGD 10299b067 P4D 10299b067 PUD 10299c067 PMD 0
[ 0.904502] Oops: Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP NOPTI
[ 0.904737] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 135 Comm: exploit Not tainted 6.19.0-rc3+ #2 NONE
[ 0.905157] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.17.0-0-gb52ca86e094d-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
[ 0.905754] RIP: 0010:qfq_deactivate_agg (include/linux/list.h:992 (discriminator 2) include/linux/list.h:1006 (discriminator 2) net/sched/sch_qfq.c:1367 (discriminator 2) net/sched/sch_qfq.c:1393 (discriminator 2))
[ 0.906046] Code: 0f 84 4d 01 00 00 48 89 70 18 8b 4b 10 48 c7 c2 ff ff ff ff 48 8b 78 08 48 d3 e2 48 21 f2 48 2b 13 48 8b 30 48 d3 ea 8b 4b 18 0

Code starting with the faulting instruction
===========================================
0: 0f 84 4d 01 00 00 je 0x153
6: 48 89 70 18 mov %rsi,0x18(%rax)
a: 8b 4b 10 mov 0x10(%rbx),%ecx
d: 48 c7 c2 ff ff ff ff mov $0xffffffffffffffff,%rdx
14: 48 8b 78 08 mov 0x8(%rax),%rdi
18: 48 d3 e2 shl %cl,%rdx
1b: 48 21 f2 and %rsi,%rdx
1e: 48 2b 13 sub (%rbx),%rdx
21: 48 8b 30 mov (%rax),%rsi
24: 48 d3 ea shr %cl,%rdx
27: 8b 4b 18 mov 0x18(%rbx),%ecx

[ 0.907095] RSP: 0018:ffffc900004a39a0 EFLAGS: 00010246
[ 0.907368] RAX: ffff8881043a0880 RBX: ffff888102953340 RCX: 0000000000000000
[ 0.907723] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
[ 0.908100] RBP: ffff888102952180 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
[ 0.908451] R10: ffff8881043a0000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888102952000
[ 0.908804] R13: ffff888102952180 R14: ffff8881043a0ad8 R15: ffff8881043a0880
[ 0.909179] FS: 000000002a1a0380(0000) GS:ffff888196d8d000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 0.909572] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 0.909857] CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 0000000102993002 CR4: 0000000000772ef0
[ 0.910247] PKRU: 55555554
[ 0.910391] Call Trace:
[ 0.910527]
[ 0.910638] qfq_reset_qdisc (net/sched/sch_qfq.c:357 net/sched/sch_qfq.c:1485)
[ 0.910826] qdisc_reset (include/linux/skbuff.h:2195 include/linux/skbuff.h:2501 include/linux/skbuff.h:3424 include/linux/skbuff.h:3430 net/sched/sch_generic.c:1036)
[ 0.911040] __qdisc_destroy (net/sched/sch_generic.c:1076)
[ 0.911236] tc_new_tfilter (net/sched/cls_api.c:2447)
[ 0.911447] rtnetlink_rcv_msg (net/core/rtnetlink.c:6958)
[ 0.911663] ? __pfx_rtnetlink_rcv_msg (net/core/rtnetlink.c:6861)
[ 0.911894] netlink_rcv_skb (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550)
[ 0.912100] netlink_unicast (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1319 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344)
[ 0.912296] ? __alloc_skb (net/core/skbuff.c:706)
[ 0.912484] netlink_sendmsg (net/netlink/af
—truncated—

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How to fix CVE-2026-22976

CVE-2026-22976 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: sch_qfq: Fix NULL deref when deactivating inactive aggregate in qfq_reset `qfq_class->leaf_qdisc->q.qlen > 0` does not imply that the class itself is active. Two qfq_class objects may point to the same leaf_qdisc. This happens when: 1. one QFQ qdisc is attached to the dev as […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Jan 21, 2026
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Jan 21, 2026
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.