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CVE-2026-97480

tty: serial: 8250: protect against NULL uart->port.dev in register

Products / packages Linux

Published

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Severity and exploitation

Not in CISA KEVNo CVSS score

KEV coverage does not rule out exploitation.

KEV checked 14/11/2026, 21:25:33 UTC

Severity

unknown

CVSS measures technical severity, not the likelihood of an attack.

Known exploitation

Not listed in the checked CISA KEV catalog

Absence from CISA KEV does not rule out attacks.

Public exploit

Not established by this record

Missing evidence does not mean no public exploit exists.

Remediation

Fix status not established

No structured fix or guidance is available here. Check the latest publisher advisory.

What this means

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

Source excerpt · Linux

Attack conditions

No attack-condition excerpt has been identified here. Review the full source description and references for authentication, network access, and configuration requirements.

Review supporting sources →

Affected versions

Check the exact model, release, and any platform requirements against your installation.

Linux · Linux

Linux

5 ranges
Linux version evidence

Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.

affected

4a96895f74c9633b51427fd080ab70fa62b65bc4 → before f728f7f38a6eca16923c72fc6826445810d2b41f

git versions

4a96895f74c9633b51427fd080ab70fa62b65bc4 → before 68059b6e9f7292714286e2b0f5185ed2a43fccc5

git versions

4a96895f74c9633b51427fd080ab70fa62b65bc4 → before 9c78f89cf2fbae18b14c78bf172ca15d832aff15

git versions

4a96895f74c9633b51427fd080ab70fa62b65bc4 → before 5cbab666721d974bfe033a12045d808936deaefd

git versions

4a96895f74c9633b51427fd080ab70fa62b65bc4 → before 941c9f84c9b6310f7aaa1c8c785dcc634ee33050

git versions

unaffected

unknown

Other versions: unaffected

Linux · Linux

Linux

7 ranges
Linux version evidence

Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.

affected

5.3

unaffected

0 → before 5.3

semver versions

6.1.191 → through 6.1.*

semver versions

6.6.160 → through 6.6.*

semver versions

6.12.114 → through 6.12.*

semver versions

6.18.53 → through 6.18.*

semver versions

7.2 → through *

original_commit_for_fix versions

unknown

Other versions: affected

Automatic dependency matching is unavailable for this record. Use the product evidence and publisher’s instructions to check your installation.

What to do

Compare your installed product and version with the affected versions above. A matching product name alone does not confirm exposure.

No structured fix or remediation guidance is available here. Check the full source description and vendor’s latest advisory for a patch or workaround; do not assume another version is safe.

cve.new guidance unless attributed to a publisher. This page does not inspect your installation.

Public exploit evidence

No public exploit reference is identified in the imported evidence. This is not a claim that no exploit exists.

Original source description

Read the full publisher description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tty: serial: 8250: protect against NULL uart->port.dev in register

serial8250_register_8250_port() conditionally copies uart->port.dev from up->port.dev only when up->port.dev is non-NULL:

if (up->port.dev) {
	uart->port.dev = up->port.dev;
	...
}

So if both the existing uart slot and up have a NULL ->dev, uart->port.dev remains NULL. The very next ACPI companion check then dereferences it unconditionally:

if (!has_acpi_companion(uart->port.dev)) {

has_acpi_companion() reads dev->fwnode without a NULL guard (include/linux/acpi.h), so this NULL-derefs the kernel for the remaining no-dev case rather than just skipping the mctrl_gpio_init() initialisation as intended.

smatch flags the inconsistency:

drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c:767 serial8250_register_8250_port() error: 'uart->port.dev' could be null (see line 719)

Guard the call with a NULL check so register continues to work for callers that legitimately have no parent device (legacy non-OF/non-ACPI registrations).

No functional change for callers that pass a non-NULL ->dev.

References

5 sources
git.kernel.org/stable/c/f728f7f38a6eca16923c72fc6826445810d2b41f
Source referenceLinux
git.kernel.org/stable/c/68059b6e9f7292714286e2b0f5185ed2a43fccc5
Source referenceLinux
git.kernel.org/stable/c/9c78f89cf2fbae18b14c78bf172ca15d832aff15
Source referenceLinux
git.kernel.org/stable/c/5cbab666721d974bfe033a12045d808936deaefd
Source referenceLinux
git.kernel.org/stable/c/941c9f84c9b6310f7aaa1c8c785dcc634ee33050
Source referenceLinux

Inside the record

Evidence available

Package identity · not supplied
Version evidence
Remediation guidance · not supplied
Weakness classification · not supplied
Additional publishers · not supplied

Describes the evidence in this view, not whether the product is safe.

Original records

CVE-2026-97480

View the latest unmodified CVE JSON from the official source. It may be newer than this imported page.

cve.new JSON →

Environment requirements

These conditions apply together as specified by the publisher. A matching product name alone does not establish exposure.

Linux · platform conditions

Any condition may hold

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.3

Before: 6.1.191

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.3

Before: 6.6.160

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.3

Before: 6.12.114

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.3

Before: 6.18.53

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.3

Before: 7.2

Applicability preview
[
  {
    "nodes": [
      {
        "operator": "OR",
        "negate": false,
        "cpeMatch": [
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.3",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.191"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.3",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.6.160"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.3",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.114"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.3",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.53"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.3",
            "versionEndExcluding": "7.2"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
]
Contributing organizations · 1
Linux

Assigning organization

2026-10-30

Timeline

All times UTC

  1. Advisory published

    Publication date supplied by the source.

  2. Source updated

    Latest modification date supplied by the source.

  3. Last imported by cve.new

    Latest catalog import, not the date we first saw this advisory.

What changed

Follow changes
No substantive changes have been recorded here yet. History starts when cve.new observes a change after tracking is enabled; earlier edits are not reconstructed.

Large field values are marked as truncated previews. Original source snapshots remain retained.