# CVE-2026-31599: media: vidtv: fix NULL pointer dereference in vidtv_channel_pmt_match_sections

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel vidtv driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash via memory allocation failure.

- **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:** 14 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-84002, BELL-CVE-2026-31599, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31599, GHSA-x6jh-jrg5-6v49, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31599, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-31599, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31599, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31599, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31599

## What is CVE-2026-31599?

CVE-2026-31599 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:

media: vidtv: fix NULL pointer dereference in vidtv_channel_pmt_match_sections

syzbot reported a general protection fault in vidtv_psi_desc_assign [1].

vidtv_psi_pmt_stream_init() can return NULL on memory allocation
failure, but vidtv_channel_pmt_match_sections() does not check for
this. When tail is NULL, the subsequent call to
vidtv_psi_desc_assign(&tail->descriptor, desc) dereferences a NULL
pointer offset, causing a general protection fault.

Add a NULL check after vidtv_psi_pmt_stream_init(). On failure, clean
up the already-allocated stream chain and return.

[1]
Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000000: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007]
RIP: 0010:vidtv_psi_desc_assign+0x24/0x90 drivers/media/test-drivers/vidtv/vidtv_psi.c:629
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 vidtv_channel_pmt_match_sections drivers/media/test-drivers/vidtv/vidtv_channel.c:349 [inline]
 vidtv_channel_si_init+0x1445/0x1a50 drivers/media/test-drivers/vidtv/vidtv_channel.c:479
 vidtv_mux_init+0x526/0xbe0 drivers/media/test-drivers/vidtv/vidtv_mux.c:519
 vidtv_start_streaming drivers/media/test-drivers/vidtv/vidtv_bridge.c:194 [inline]
 vidtv_start_feed+0x33e/0x4d0 drivers/media/test-drivers/vidtv/vidtv_bridge.c:239

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31599?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31599?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31599 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31599 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-2026-31599 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31599 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-2026-31599 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-2026-31599/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31599/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31599
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31599
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31599

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31599/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.