# CVE-2026-31544: firmware: arm_scmi: Fix NULL dereference on notify error path

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's ARM SCMI firmware driver can cause a system crash when handling notification errors.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/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:** 24 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-31544, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31544, GHSA-fc2q-2cf4-p9xr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31544

## What is CVE-2026-31544?

CVE-2026-31544 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

firmware: arm_scmi: Fix NULL dereference on notify error path

Since commit b5daf93b809d1 ("firmware: arm_scmi: Avoid notifier
registration for unsupported events") the call chains leading to the helper
__scmi_event_handler_get_ops expect an ERR_PTR to be returned on failure to
get an handler for the requested event key, while the current helper can
still return a NULL when no handler could be found or created.

Fix by forcing an ERR_PTR return value when the handler reference is NULL.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31544?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31544?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31544 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31544 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-2026-31544 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31544 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Apr 2026. 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-2026-31544 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-2026-31544/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31544/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31544
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31544
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31544

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31544/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.