Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2026-52913: Linux Kernel batman-adv NULL pointer dereference in OGMv2

CVE-2026-52913 · Severity: info · CVSS 5.5 · Published 2026-06-24

Vendors: Linux.

Executive brief

A vulnerability was identified in the Linux kernel's B.A.T.M.A.N. Advanced mesh networking protocol. When a network interface is disabled, the system may still attempt to send routing messages through it, leading to a system crash (NULL pointer dereference). This could allow a local user with sufficient privileges to disrupt network operations or cause a denial-of-service on the affected machine.

Technical details

A vulnerability exists in the batman-adv (B.A.T.M.A.N. Advanced) implementation within the Linux kernel, specifically in the OGMv2 (Originator Message version 2) protocol handling. When a 'batadv_hard_iface' is disabled, its 'mesh_iface' pointer is set to NULL. However, a race condition or improper state check allows 'batadv_v_ogm_send_meshif()' to continue dispatching messages via 'batadv_v_ogm_queue_on_if()'. This function unconditionally calls 'netdev_priv()' on the NULL pointer, resulting in a kernel panic. The fix introduces a check to ensure the interface association is still valid before processing. This issue affects Linux kernels from version 4.6 onwards until patched in various stable branches in June 2026.

Affected products

  • Linux Linux 4.6 to 5.10.259, 5.15.161, 6.1.94, 6.6.34, 6.9.5, 6.10-rc3

Timeline

  • 2026-05-28: other: Patch authored by Sven Eckelmann
  • 2026-06-24: advisory: CVE-2026-52913 published

References