CVE-2026-98134: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-pp33-9ggx-8qj6
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CVSS 5.5
CWE-476
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-98134 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-98134 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-98134
GHSA Identifier GHSA-pp33-9ggx-8qj6
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-98134

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-98134, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference, where the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: check_cond_jmp_op(): properly infer if register is null Nicholas Carlini reported a bug when verifier can incorrectly infer that a pointer is non-null. The bug occurs when two pointers are compared and one of them has a type w/o PTR_MAYBE_NULL flag, but which allows a value to be NULL at runtime. Here is an example: // `a` is PTR_TO_MEM | MEM_RDONLY | PTR_UNTRUSTED // `a` is 0 at runtime. // `b` is PTR_TO_MAP_VALUE | PTR_MAYBE_NULL void *a = bpf_rdonly_cast(0, 0); int *b = bpf_map_lookup_elem(...); if (a == b) *b = 42; // verifier does not catch null pointer dereference This happens because of a special case in check_cond_jmp_op(), which attempts to strip PTR_MAYBE_NULL flags from pointer types, when processing comparisons like `rA == rB`, if either rA or rB can't be null. The non-null property is derived based on the absence of PTR_MAYBE_NULL flag on rA's or rB's type. But that is not sufficient for types like PTR_TO_MEM, as in the example. This patch replaces type_may_be_null() call with reg_not_null(), which contains an allowlist of types for which absence of PTR_MAYBE_NULL actually means that the value can't be NULL at runtime. At the moment, the list in the reg_not_null() omits two types for which PTR_MAYBE_NULL is applicable: PTR_TO_XDP_SOCK and PTR_TO_BUF. In order to remain backward compatible, and assuming that only comparison between pointers of the same type makes sense, this commit extends reg_not_null(). W/o such an extension e.g. verifier_jeq_infer_not_null/null_ptr_to_map_value fails. reg_not_null() can be extended further, but I deem that out of scope for the fix at hand. Explicit base_type(...) != PTR_TO_BTF_ID checks in the check_cond_jmp_op() can be removed with migration to reg_not_null(), but that is a behavioural change, as the special case would start matching for PTR_TO_BTF_ID that is also is_trusted_reg(). I omit the behavioural change from this commit.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-98134 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98134
git.kernel.org/stable/c/9bf96b4347... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9bf96b4347f541604b3caadeabda0773d9ceaf2a
git.kernel.org/stable/c/b55c9f019e... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b55c9f019e169ed0d01394f96e172286a8b21b99
git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3ef6c097b... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3ef6c097ba078e1f8c7239d76a0ce8b61e75095

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-98134?
CVE-2026-98134 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-98134?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-98134?
CVE-2026-98134 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-98134?
CVE-2026-98134 is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference (The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-98134?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
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  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-pp33-9ggx-8qj6",
  "modified" : "2026-10-15T12:30:55Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-25T12:31:37Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-98134" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nbpf: check_cond_jmp_op(): properly infer if register is null\n\nNicholas Carlini reported a bug when verifier can incorrectly infer\nthat a pointer is non-null. The bug occurs when two pointers are\ncompared and one of them has a type w/o PTR_MAYBE_NULL flag,\nbut which allows a value to be NULL at runtime.\nHere is an example:\n\n  // `a` is PTR_TO_MEM | MEM_RDONLY | PTR_UNTRUSTED\n  // `a` is 0 at runtime.\n  // `b` is PTR_TO_MAP_VALUE | PTR_MAYBE_NULL\n  void *a = bpf_rdonly_cast(0, 0);\n  int  *b = bpf_map_lookup_elem(...);\n\n  if (a == b)\n    *b = 42;  // verifier does not catch null pointer dereference\n\nThis happens because of a special case in check_cond_jmp_op(),\nwhich attempts to strip PTR_MAYBE_NULL flags from pointer types,\nwhen processing comparisons like `rA == rB`, if either rA or rB can't\nbe null.\n\nThe non-null property is derived based on the absence of\nPTR_MAYBE_NULL flag on rA's or rB's type. But that is not sufficient\nfor types like PTR_TO_MEM, as in the example.\n\nThis patch replaces type_may_be_null() call with reg_not_null(),\nwhich contains an allowlist of types for which absence of\nPTR_MAYBE_NULL actually means that the value can't be NULL at runtime.\n\nAt the moment, the list in the reg_not_null() omits two types for\nwhich PTR_MAYBE_NULL is applicable: PTR_TO_XDP_SOCK and PTR_TO_BUF.\nIn order to remain backward compatible, and assuming that only\ncomparison between pointers of the same type makes sense,\nthis commit extends reg_not_null(). W/o such an extension e.g.\nverifier_jeq_infer_not_null/null_ptr_to_map_value fails.\n\nreg_not_null() can be extended further, but I deem that out of scope\nfor the fix at hand. Explicit base_type(...) != PTR_TO_BTF_ID\nchecks in the check_cond_jmp_op() can be removed with migration to\nreg_not_null(), but that is a behavioural change, as the special case\nwould start matching for PTR_TO_BTF_ID that is also is_trusted_reg().\nI omit the behavioural change from this commit.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98134"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9bf96b4347f541604b3caadeabda0773d9ceaf2a"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b55c9f019e169ed0d01394f96e172286a8b21b99"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3ef6c097ba078e1f8c7239d76a0ce8b61e75095"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-476" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-09-25T11:17:44Z"
  }
}