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.

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.

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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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