Kernel crash via absent optional GPIO array
Published May 1, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux 6.8 hx8357 backlight driver allows local users to crash the kernel during device probing. In hx8357_probe(), devm_gpiod_get_array_optional() returns NULL when optional im GPIOs are absent, but the driver dereferences lcd->im_pins->ndescs without first testing the pointer. The crash requires an HX8357-compatible SPI device configuration that omits the optional im GPIO array, so affected systems can lose availability when the driver probes that device.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux 6.8 hx8357 backlight driver allows local users to crash the kernel during device probing. In hx8357_probe(), devm_gpiod_get_array_optional() returns NULL when optional im GPIOs are absent, but the driver dereferences lcd->im_pins->ndescs without first testing the pointer. The crash requires an HX8357-compatible SPI device configuration that omits the optional im GPIO array, so affected systems can lose availability when the driver probes that device.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-27071
- Published
- May 1, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 1, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=6.8
- Affected versionversion=7d84a63a39b78443d09f2b4edf7ecb1d586379b4 <67e578c8ff2d7df03bf8ca9a7f5436b1796f6ad1
- Affected versionversion=7d84a63a39b78443d09f2b4edf7ecb1d586379b4 <b1ba8bcb2d1ffce11b308ce166c9cc28d989e3b9
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
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