Linux Kernel coresight coresight_add_out_conn/coresight_add_in_conn null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Linux Kernel. The affected element is the function coresight_add_out_conn/coresight_add_in_conn of the component coresight. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-72485. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel (unknown version). Affected is the function coresight_add_out_conn/coresight_add_in_conn of the component coresight. The manipulation 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 confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: coresight: platform: defer connection counter increment until alloc succeeds coresight_add_out_conn() increments nr_outconns before calling devm_krealloc_array() and again before devm_kmalloc(). If either allocation fails, the counter is already bumped while the corresponding array entry is NULL or uninitialized garbage. coresight_add_in_conn() has the same problem with nr_inconns and devm_krealloc_array(). In both cases the probe returns -ENOMEM, which causes coresight_get_platform_data() to call coresight_release_platform_data() for cleanup. That function iterates up to nr_outconns (or nr_inconns) entries and dereferences each pointer unconditionally, hitting the NULL or garbage entry and panicking instead of failing gracefully. Fix by moving the counter increments to after all allocations succeed, so the struct is always consistent on any error path.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-72485 since 08/09/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Applying the patch 8ca9adc805884d3bb5038082462577f86c2c4a10 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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