A NULL pointer dereference occurs in the Linux kernel’s DAMON_RECLAIM and DAMON_LRU_SORT subsystems when a damon_ctx allocation fails during module initialization. The code incorrectly assumes a successful allocation, and when the allocation returns NULL it proceeds to use the pointer, causing an OOPS system. This flaw is classified as CWE‑476.

All Linux kernel builds that include the DAMON_RECLAIM or DAMON_LRU_SORT modules without the fix are vulnerable. This includes any kernel configuration that compiles these modules and does not contain the mm/damon/{reclaim,lru_sort}: handle ctx allocation failures patch series.

The EPSS score indicates a very low probability of exploitation (<ISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The likely attack vector is local privileged access or a kernel boot process that loads the affected modules; a failure to allocate the damon_ctx is theoretically possible but unlikely kernel crash leading to a denial of service.