CVE-2026-64451 — tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in func_set_flag()

Affected: Linux

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

tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in func_set_flag()

func_set_flag() dereferences tr->current_trace_flags before verifying that the current tracer is actually the function tracer. When the active tracer has been switched away from "function" (e.g., to "wakeup_rt"), tr->current_trace_flags can be NULL, leading to a NULL pointer dereference and kernel crash.

The call chain that triggers this is:

trace_options_write() -> __set_tracer_option() -> trace->set_flag() /* func_set_flag */

In func_set_flag(), the first operation is:

if (!!set == !!(tr->current_trace_flags->val & bit))

This dereferences tr->current_trace_flags unconditionally. The safety check that guards against a non-function tracer:

if (tr->current_trace != &function_trace) return 0;

is placed *after* the dereference, which is too late.

This was observed with the following crash dump:

BUG: unable to handle page fault at 0000000000000000 RIP: func_set_flag+0xd

Call Trace: __set_tracer_option+0x27 trace_options_write+0x75 vfs_write+0x12a ksys_write+0x66 do_syscall_64+0x5b

RIP: ffffffff914c973d RSP: ff67ec88b01dfdf0 RFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ff3a826e80354580 RCX: 0000000000000001 RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffffffff93918080

The disassembly confirms the fault:

func_set_flag+0: mov 0x1f08(%rdi), %rax ; RAX = tr->current_trace_fla…

Most recent entries from all

CVE-2026-64451 — tracing: Fix NULL pointer dereference in func_set_flag()