CVE-2026-46305

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

NULL Pointer Dereference in Linux Kernel rtl8723bs Driver

Publication date: 2026-06-08

Last updated on: 2026-07-08

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: rtl8723bs: os_dep: avoid NULL pointer dereference in rtw_cbuf_alloc The return value of kzalloc_flex() is used without ensuring that the allocation succeeded, and the pointer is dereferenced unconditionally. Guard the access to the allocated structure to avoid a potential NULL pointer dereference if the allocation fails.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-06-08

Last Modified

2026-07-08

Generated

2026-07-19

AI Q&A

2026-06-08

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-18

NVD

CVE-2026-46305

EUVD

EUVD-2026-35170

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
linux	linux_kernel	7.1
linux	linux_kernel	7.1
linux	linux_kernel	From 7.0 (inc) to 7.0.7 (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 rtl8723bs staging driver, specifically in the os_dep component. The issue arises because the function kzalloc_flex() is called to allocate memory, but its return value is not checked to confirm if the allocation was successful. As a result, the code may dereference a NULL pointer if the allocation fails, leading to a potential NULL pointer dereference.

Impact Analysis

The impact of this vulnerability is that if the memory allocation fails and the NULL pointer is dereferenced, it can cause the affected system or kernel module to crash or behave unpredictably. This can lead to denial of service or system instability.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, update the Linux kernel to a version where the issue in the rtl8723bs driver has been fixed. This update ensures that the NULL pointer dereference caused by unchecked kzalloc_flex() return values is properly guarded.

Avoid using vulnerable kernel versions and apply patches provided by the Linux kernel maintainers that address this specific issue.

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