Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc1 gadget gadget_dev_ioctl null pointer dereference

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.3	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc1. This affects the function gadget_dev_ioctl of the component gadget. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-90020. The attack needs to be approached locally. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc1. Affected is the function gadget_dev_ioctl of the component gadget. 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 availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: USB: gadget: fix NULL pointer dereference in gadget_dev_ioctl() gadget_dev_ioctl() reads dev->gadget before acquiring dev->lock, but dev->state is checked after acquiring the lock. Therefore a concurrent bind can change the device state between these operations, which can leave ioctl with a stale NULL gadget pointer and causing a NULL pointer dereference at gadget->ops->ioctl. Read dev->gadget while holding dev->lock so that the gadget pointer and device state are sampled consistently.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-90020 since 09/11/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.51, 7.2.5 or 7.3-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 8be30959be31b4205e3bdd2e2a6221f3a2ee7ea1/e8219accce2f6d3502ed71f5b5e854ecf27249a6/87cbf9410b12f5c2d659bb01e8ecf6517cb9f28c/162178ca83c3de986900385a0477eb539f8e1a7e/ebd916fdfefaacbc0e577f7037ec96b31a105e5f/c29a83c1ff3f06d5751f6d365b606c9f81ccc4cb/64ec019bf9a8b12f53b9f2777d65aadb730b5a84/dd0eed9e165b1a6292f49e622e3dd0b7d99b106d is able to eliminate this problem. 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

• 5.10.269
• 5.15.220
• 6.1.187
• 6.6.156
• 6.12.109
• 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
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.3-rc1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.3

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.270/5.15.221/6.1.188/6.6.157/6.12.110/6.18.51/7.2.5/7.3-rc2
Patch: 8be30959be31b4205e3bdd2e2a6221f3a2ee7ea1/e8219accce2f6d3502ed71f5b5e854ecf27249a6/87cbf9410b12f5c2d659bb01e8ecf6517cb9f28c/162178ca83c3de986900385a0477eb539f8e1a7e/ebd916fdfefaacbc0e577f7037ec96b31a105e5f/c29a83c1ff3f06d5751f6d365b606c9f81ccc4cb/64ec019bf9a8b12f53b9f2777d65aadb730b5a84/dd0eed9e165b1a6292f49e622e3dd0b7d99b106d

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/16/2026 +5 days Advisory disclosed
09/16/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/16/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-90020 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-90020
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-405858

Entryinfo

Created: 09/16/2026 15:23
Changes: 09/16/2026 15:23 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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