A NULL pointer dereference occurs in the Linux kernel when a non‑existent performance domain ID is requested through the energy model netlink interface. The handler calls a routine that returns NULL for an absent domain but does not check the result before dereferencing a member in the next function. If triggered, the kernel attempts to access a null reference, causing a panic that halts the system. This flaw is a classic NULL pointer dereference (CWE‑252).

All Linux kernel releases that expose the energy model netlink interface and that do not yet include commit 9badc2a84e688be1275bb740942d5f6f51746908 are affected. The vulnerability affects the kernel’s performance‑domain querying code used by the energy model subsystem and applies to both production and development builds based on the upstream Linux tree.

The CVSS score is not listed and EPSS data is unavailable, however a kernel crash represents high impact. The flaw can be triggered by any process that can invoke the energy model netlink interface; normally this capability is limited to privileged users, so the attack vector is local with elevated privileges. The vulnerability is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and no public exploits have been reported, but the denial‑of‑service risk remains until the kernel is patched.