CVE-2026-43401

5.5 MEDIUM
Published: May 08, 2026 Modified: May 21, 2026
View on NVD

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cpufreq: intel_pstate: Fix NULL pointer dereference in update_cpu_qos_request() The update_cpu_qos_request() function attempts to initialize the 'freq' variable by dereferencing 'cpudata' before verifying if the 'policy' is valid. This issue occurs on systems booted with the "nosmt" parameter, where all_cpu_data[cpu] is NULL for the SMT sibling threads. As a result, any call to update_qos_requests() will result in a NULL pointer dereference as the code will attempt to access pstate.turbo_freq using the NULL cpudata pointer. Also, pstate.turbo_freq may be updated by intel_pstate_get_hwp_cap() after initializing the 'freq' variable, so it is better to defer the 'freq' until intel_pstate_get_hwp_cap() has been called. Fix this by deferring the 'freq' assignment until after the policy and driver_data have been validated. [ rjw: Added one paragraph to the changelog ]

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CVSS v3.x Details

0.0 Low Medium High Critical 10.0
Vector String
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Patch Vendor Advisory Exploit Third Party Advisory
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42738dffb7b0766a45882dff7989401d78f66f92
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bfda7ce56e7d14a677b7bcd6c7a5009cc29aa88
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ab39cc4cb8ceecdc2b61747433e7237f1ac2b789
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Patch

3 reference(s) from NVD

Quick Stats

CVSS v3 Score
5.5 / 10.0
EPSS (Exploit Probability)
0.1%
2th percentile
Exploitation Status
Not in CISA KEV

Weaknesses (CWE)

Affected Vendors

linux