# CVE-2019-12455: Null dereference in n/a

> An unchecked memory allocation in the Linux kernel clock driver could theoretically cause a crash, though it is disputed as unexploitable by users.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 May 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2019-12455, GHSA-r2qx-grq5-8x3g, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2019-12455, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2019-12455, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-12455

## What is CVE-2019-12455?

CVE-2019-12455 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 May 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in sunxi_divs_clk_setup in drivers/clk/sunxi/clk-sunxi.c in the Linux kernel through 5.1.5. There is an unchecked kstrndup of derived_name, which might allow an attacker to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash). NOTE: This id is disputed as not being an issue because “The memory allocation that was not checked is part of a code that only runs at boot time, before user processes are started. Therefore, there is no possibility for an unprivileged user to control it, and no denial of service.”

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-12455?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-12455?

No fix published yet.

## Is CVE-2019-12455 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12455 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-12455 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-12455 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 May 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12455 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12455/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12455/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-12455
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12455
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-12455

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12455/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.