CVE-2026-45978

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

NULL Pointer Dereference in Linux Kernel Greybus Lights Subsystem

Publication date: 2026-05-27

Last updated on: 2026-06-16

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: greybus: lights: avoid NULL deref gb_lights_light_config() stores channel_count before allocating the channels array. If kcalloc() fails, gb_lights_release() iterates the non-zero count and dereferences light->channels, which is NULL. Allocate channels first and only then publish channels_count so the cleanup path can't walk a NULL pointer.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-05-27

Last Modified

2026-06-16

Generated

2026-07-07

AI Q&A

2026-05-27

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-45978

EUVD

EUVD-2026-32262

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.13 (inc) to 6.18.14 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.19 (inc) to 6.19.4 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.2 (inc) to 6.6.128 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.7 (inc) to 6.12.75 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 5.11 (inc) to 5.15.202 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.165 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 4.9 (inc) to 5.10.252 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-476	The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's greybus lights component. Specifically, the function gb_lights_light_config() stores a channel_count value before allocating memory for the channels array. If the memory allocation (kcalloc) fails, the cleanup function gb_lights_release() attempts to iterate over the channels using the non-zero channel_count, but since the channels pointer is NULL, this results in a NULL pointer dereference.

The fix involves allocating the channels array first and only then setting the channels_count, preventing the cleanup code from dereferencing a NULL pointer.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause a NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel, which may lead to a kernel crash or system instability. Such crashes can result in denial of service conditions, affecting system availability.

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