# CVE-2026-43401: cpufreq: intel_pstate: Fix NULL pointer dereference in update_cpu_qos_request()

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel cpufreq driver causes a system crash when booted with the nosmt parameter.

- **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:** 8 May 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-43401, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43401, GHSA-j7hx-vp8g-c83p, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43401

## What is CVE-2026-43401?

CVE-2026-43401 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 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:

cpufreq: intel_pstate: Fix NULL pointer dereference in update_cpu_qos_request()

The update_cpu_qos_request() function attempts to initialize the 'freq'
variable by dereferencing 'cpudata' before verifying if the 'policy'
is valid.

This issue occurs on systems booted with the "nosmt" parameter, where
all_cpu_data[cpu] is NULL for the SMT sibling threads. As a result,
any call to update_qos_requests() will result in a NULL pointer
dereference as the code will attempt to access pstate.turbo_freq using
the NULL cpudata pointer.

Also, pstate.turbo_freq may be updated by intel_pstate_get_hwp_cap()
after initializing the 'freq' variable, so it is better to defer the
'freq' until intel_pstate_get_hwp_cap() has been called.

Fix this by deferring the 'freq' assignment until after the policy and
driver_data have been validated.

[ rjw: Added one paragraph to the changelog ]

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43401?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-43401?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-43401 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43401 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-2026-43401 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43401 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 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-2026-43401 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-2026-43401/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43401/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43401
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43401
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43401

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43401/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.