CVE-2026-31481

5.5 MEDIUM 0.1% exploit odds Fix listed Memory safety OS & kernel

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Drain deferred trigger frees if kthread creation fails Boot-time trigger registration can fail before the trigger-data cleanup kthread exists. Deferring those frees until late init is fine, but the post-boot fallback must still drain the deferred list if kthread creation never succeeds. Otherwise, boot-deferred nodes can accumulate on trigger_data_free_list, later frees fall back to synchronously freeing only the current object, and the older queued entries are leaked forever. To trigger this, add the following to the kernel command line: trace_event=sched_switch trace_trigger=sched_switch.traceon,sched_switch.traceon The second traceon trigger will fail and be freed. This triggers a NULL pointer dereference and crashes the kernel. Keep the deferred boot-time behavior, but when kthread creation fails, drain the whole queued list synchronously. Do the same in the late-init drain path so queued entries are not stranded there either.

At a glance

Exploitability: Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account. High risk of service disruption.
Exploit odds: 0.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Fix: A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

2026-04-22 14:16 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2026-06-17 10:33 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
Exploit odds: 0.1% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Severity: 5.5 MEDIUM (CVSS).
Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published: 2026-04-22 14:16 UTC
Last modified: 2026-06-17 10:33 UTC
Exploit probability: 0.1% · EPSS, next 30 days
Weakness: CWE-476 · NULL pointer dereference
Record status: Analyzed

Affected

Linux Kernel < 6.19.11
Linux Kernel 6.19
Linux Kernel 7.0

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.5

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges needed: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Is it in your code?

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Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-31481.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-31481. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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Fix and advisories

References

NVD record · CVE.org record