Linux Kernel up to 6.19.13/7.0.0 auxiliary_device_uninit null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.19.13/7.0.0. Affected by this vulnerability is the function auxiliary_device_uninit. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-31621. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.19.13/7.0.0 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function auxiliary_device_uninit. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bnge: return after auxiliary_device_uninit() in error path When auxiliary_device_add() fails, the error block calls auxiliary_device_uninit() but does not return. The uninit drops the last reference and synchronously runs bnge_aux_dev_release(), which sets bd->auxr_dev = NULL and frees the underlying object. The subsequent bd->auxr_dev->net = bd->netdev then dereferences NULL, which is not a good thing to have happen when trying to clean up from an error. Add the missing return, as the auxiliary bus documentation states is a requirement (seems that LLM tools read documentation better than humans do...)

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-31621 since 03/09/2026. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 310307 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-31621), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.19.14 or 7.0.1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 38c383ec6d37f4b5597f8e6a1f5c2ab31ea01d3a/87bc3557c708110d83086bf091328271298a44e3 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (310307) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1279). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.19.0
• 6.19.1
• 6.19.2
• 6.19.3
• 6.19.4
• 6.19.5
• 6.19.6
• 6.19.7
• 6.19.8
• 6.19.9
• 6.19.10
• 6.19.11
• 6.19.12
• 6.19.13
• 7.0

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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