Kernel crash via unchecked MMIO mapping error
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
Improper error handling in the Ethos-U NPU driver in Linux 6.19 causes a kernel crash when MMIO resource mapping fails during probe. The ethosu_probe() function stores the ERR_PTR returned by devm_platform_ioremap_resource() and continues until an MMIO accessor dereferences it. Reachability requires an Ethos-U device probe whose register resource cannot be mapped; the observed consequence is a kernel crash rather than data access or modification.
Summary
What happened
Improper error handling in the Ethos-U NPU driver in Linux 6.19 causes a kernel crash when MMIO resource mapping fails during probe. The ethosu_probe() function stores the ERR_PTR returned by devm_platform_ioremap_resource() and continues until an MMIO accessor dereferences it. Reachability requires an Ethos-U device probe whose register resource cannot be mapped; the observed consequence is a kernel crash rather than data access or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-89977
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=5a5e9c0228e613f0ef2a58b9782d7c0ea8f1e58b <7ab64476a610fe65858fdc37c7a30caa13e334ac
- Affected versionversion=5a5e9c0228e613f0ef2a58b9782d7c0ea8f1e58b <f7aad73b481194e3f0efba9688e9a5914bbd036b
- Affected versionversion=6.19
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What is affected?
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Attacks
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Technologies
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