# CVE-2026-31726: usb: gadget: uvc: fix NULL pointer dereference during unbind race > A race condition during USB gadget unbind causes a NULL pointer dereference, leading to a kernel panic and denial of service. - **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:** 1 May 2026 - **Updated:** 23 May 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-31726, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31726, GHSA-m9p5-m8gg-jgg8, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31726, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31726, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31726, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31726 ## What is CVE-2026-31726? CVE-2026-31726 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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: usb: gadget: uvc: fix NULL pointer dereference during unbind race Commit b81ac4395bbe ("usb: gadget: uvc: allow for application to cleanly shutdown") introduced two stages of synchronization waits totaling 1500ms in uvc_function_unbind() to prevent several types of kernel panics. However, this timing-based approach is insufficient during power management (PM) transitions. When the PM subsystem starts freezing user space processes, the wait_event_interruptible_timeout() is aborted early, which allows the unbind thread to proceed and nullify the gadget pointer (cdev->gadget = NULL): [ 814.123447][ T947] configfs-gadget.g1 gadget.0: uvc: uvc_function_unbind() [ 814.178583][ T3173] PM: suspend entry (deep) [ 814.192487][ T3173] Freezing user space processes [ 814.197668][ T947] configfs-gadget.g1 gadget.0: uvc: uvc_function_unbind no clean disconnect, wait for release When the PM subsystem resumes or aborts the suspend and tasks are restarted, the V4L2 release path is executed and attempts to access the already nullified gadget pointer, triggering a kernel panic: [ 814.292597][ C0] PM: pm_system_irq_wakeup: 479 triggered dhdpcie_host_wake [ 814.386727][ T3173] Restarting tasks ... [ 814.403522][ T4558] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000030 [ 814.404021][ T4558] pc : usb_gadget_deactivate+0x14/0xf4 [ 814.404031][ T4558] lr : usb_function_deactivate+0x54/0x94 [ 814.404078][ T4558] Call trace: [ 814.404080][ T4558] usb_gadget_deactivate+0x14/0xf4 [ 814.404083][ T4558] usb_function_deactivate+0x54/0x94 [ 814.404087][ T4558] uvc_function_disconnect+0x1c/0x5c [ 814.404092][ T4558] uvc_v4l2_release+0x44/0xac [ 814.404095][ T4558] v4l2_release+0xcc/0x130 Address the race condition and NULL pointer dereference by: 1. State Synchronization (flag + mutex) Introduce a 'func_unbound' flag in struct uvc_device. This allows uvc_function_disconnect() to safely skip accessing the nullified cdev->gadget pointer. As suggested by Alan Stern, this flag is protected by a new mutex (uvc->lock) to ensure proper memory ordering and prevent instruction reordering or speculative loads. This mutex is also used to protect 'func_connected' for consistent state management. 2. Explicit Synchronization (completion) Use a completion to synchronize uvc_function_unbind() with the uvc_vdev_release() callback. This prevents Use-After-Free (UAF) by ensuring struct uvc_device is freed after all video device resources are released. Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31726? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2026-31726? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2026-31726 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31726 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-2026-31726 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-31726 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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-2026-31726 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-2026-31726/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31726/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31726 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31726 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31726 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31726/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.