iommu/vt-d: Avoid NULL pointer dereference or refcount corruption
CVE-2026-53281 · published 26 Jun 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: high, CVSS score 8.8 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-53281?
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Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 68ec78beb4a3fb0877cbaaf49758c85410c05977 to < d1a677f9c5e02c4ae49614044ac21296660d1391, 60f030f7418d3f1d94f2fb207fe3080e1844630b to < 9022cb9ac0c2a72a57fa8ebf92ac74f953ca0153, 60f030f7418d3f1d94f2fb207fe3080e1844630b to < cdfe3c9f2c9e28a8651ee463c88ad191ced2f840, 60f030f7418d3f1d94f2fb207fe3080e1844630b to < 79ea2feb917b05366b49d85573c9c5331f043b2c
- Linux Linux: 6.14
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
iommu/vt-d: Avoid NULL pointer dereference or refcount corruption
Commit 60f030f7418d ("iommu/vt-d: Avoid use of NULL after WARN_ON_ONCE")
fixed a NULL pointer dereference in an unlikely situation partly.
If dev_pasid is not found in the dev_pasids list, it remains NULL.
However, the teardown operations are executed unconditionally, this lead
to a NULL pointer dereference or refcount corruption.
If the domain was never attached to this IOMMU, info will be NULL, which
would cause an immediate dereference when checking --info->refcnt.
Even if info is not NULL, decrementing the refcount without having removed
a valid PASID might unbalance the count. This could lead to premature
dropping of the refcount to 0, potentially causing a use-after-free for the
remaining active devices sharing the domain.
Fix it by returning early if dev_pasid is NULL, before executing the
teardown operations.
Issue found by AI review and suggested by Kevin Tian.
https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260421031347.1408890-1-zhenzhong.duan%40intel.com
Check your whole app
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References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d1a677f9c5e02c4ae49614044ac21296660d1391
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/9022cb9ac0c2a72a57fa8ebf92ac74f953ca0153
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/cdfe3c9f2c9e28a8651ee463c88ad191ced2f840
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/79ea2feb917b05366b49d85573c9c5331f043b2c
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 25 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON