Linux Kernel up to 6.18.13/6.19.3 pinctrl k230_pinctrl_parse_functions pctl_dev null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.13/6.19.3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function k230_pinctrl_parse_functions of the component pinctrl. Performing a manipulation of the argument pctl_dev results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-46269. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.13/6.19.3. This affects the function k230_pinctrl_parse_functions of the component pinctrl. The manipulation of the argument pctl_dev with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as 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. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pinctrl: canaan: k230: Fix NULL pointer dereference when parsing devicetree When probing the k230 pinctrl driver, the kernel triggers a NULL pointer dereference. The crash trace showed: [ 0.732084] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000068 [ 0.740737] ... [ 0.776296] epc : k230_pinctrl_probe+0x1be/0x4fc In k230_pinctrl_parse_functions(), we attempt to retrieve the device pointer via info->pctl_dev->dev, but info->pctl_dev is only initialized after k230_pinctrl_parse_dt() completes. At the time of DT parsing, info->pctl_dev is still NULL, leading to the invalid dereference of info->pctl_dev->dev. Use the already available device pointer from platform_device instead of accessing through uninitialized pctl_dev.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-46269 since 05/13/2026. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 318714 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-46269), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.18.14 or 6.19.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3c7d637bfc3dfbd6471c68bd767f7eb8b5b09eba/1d0d361f4dbc2bb2003594f84e4b101fc6b508c0/d8c128fb6c2277d95f3f6a4ce28b82c8370031f6 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 (318714) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1802). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.19.0
• 6.19.1
• 6.19.2
• 6.19.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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