CVE-2026-74734

firewire: ohci: fix NULL pointer dereference in ar_context_release

Published Aug 26, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

firewire: ohci: fix NULL pointer dereference in ar_context_release

During the error handling path of the driver's probe function, a NULL
pointer dereference can occur in ar_context_release().

When pci_probe() fails early (e.g., if pcim_enable_device() or MMIO mapping
fails), the devres cleanup mechanism invokes release_ohci(). This function
unconditionally calls ar_context_release() to clean up the asynchronous
receive contexts. However, if ar_context_init() was not yet called,
ctx->ohci remains NULL (as the fw_ohci structure is zero-initialized by
devres_alloc()).

ar_context_release() immediately dereferences ctx->ohci to get the dev
pointer before checking if the context was actually initialized, leading to
a crash:

Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address
0xdffffc0000000001: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f]
RIP: 0010:ar_context_release+0x3f/0x380 drivers/firewire/ohci.c:543
Call Trace:
release_ohci+0x3f/0x60 drivers/firewire/ohci.c:3567
release_nodes drivers/base/devres.c:546 [inline]
devres_release_all+0x1a8/0x260 drivers/base/devres.c:576
device_unbind_cleanup drivers/base/dd.c:597 [inline]
really_probe+0x451/0xae0 drivers/base/dd.c:772

To fix this, move the assignment of the dev pointer after the !ctx->buffer
check. If ctx->buffer is NULL, it indicates that the context was never
successfully initialized and there is nothing to release, safely avoiding
the dereference of the uninitialized ctx->ohci pointer.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4904-1 linux-6.12 security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9019-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9020-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-476
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: firewire: ohci: fix NULL pointer dereference in ar_context_release During the error handling path of the driver's probe function, a NULL pointer dereference can occur in ar_context_release(). When pci_probe() fails early (e.g., if pcim_enable_device() or MMIO mapping fails), the devres cleanup mechanism invokes release_ohci(). This function unconditionally calls ar_context_release() to clean up the asynchronous receive contexts. However, if ar_context_init() was not yet called, ctx->ohci remains NULL (as the fw_ohci structure is zero-initialized by devres_alloc()). ar_context_release() immediately dereferences ctx->ohci to get the dev pointer before checking if the context was actually initialized, leading to a crash: Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000001: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f] RIP: 0010:ar_context_release+0x3f/0x380 drivers/firewire/ohci.c:543 Call Trace: release_ohci+0x3f/0x60 drivers/firewire/ohci.c:3567 release_nodes drivers/base/devres.c:546 [inline] devres_release_all+0x1a8/0x260 drivers/base/devres.c:576 device_unbind_cleanup drivers/base/dd.c:597 [inline] really_probe+0x451/0xae0 drivers/base/dd.c:772 To fix this, move the assignment of the dev pointer after the !ctx->buffer check. If ctx->buffer is NULL, it indicates that the context was never successfully initialized and there is nothing to release, safely avoiding the dereference of the uninitialized ctx->ohci pointer.
Title firewire: ohci: fix NULL pointer dereference in ar_context_release
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Oct 21, 2026, 12:46 PM
Reserved
Aug 15, 2026, 5:44 AM
Status
Received
Published
Aug 26, 2026, 3:16 PM
Modified
Oct 21, 2026, 1:19 PM
Severity
Low
Public date
Aug 26, 2026, 12:00 AM