Using the repro attached, when keys are not evicted, they remain in the insert list. When this is the case, the field cbt->tmp->data is not set and the condition added as part of WT-8044 does not work as expected because it is NULL. When the keys are evicted, cbt->tmp->data is updated and the field can be used.

The field that seems to be always set whether the keys are in the inserted list or on disk is cbt->upd_value->buf. The suggested change is the following:

diff --git a/src/btree/bt_cursor.c b/src/btree/bt_cursor.c
index b3d879fae..d8df06486 100644
--- a/src/btree/bt_cursor.c
+++ b/src/btree/bt_cursor.c
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ __wt_btcur_search_near(WT_CURSOR_BTREE *cbt, int *exactp)
      * key only if it is a prefix match.
      */
     if (valid && F_ISSET(cursor, WT_CURSTD_PREFIX_SEARCH) &&
-      __wt_prefix_match(&state.key, cbt->tmp) != 0)
+      __wt_prefix_match(&state.key, &cbt->upd_value->buf) != 0)
         valid = false; 

With this change, the issue does not reproduce.

EDIT: Seems that a better way to retrieve the key would be using wt_key_return

Definition of done:

• Check the reproducers and confirm the issue does not occur
• Modify the existing test_search_near02 so we also do the test when keys are not evicted