CVE-2026-43431 xhci: Fix NULL pointer dereference when reading portli debugfs files

What is CVE-2026-43431?

CVE-2026-43431 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:

xhci: Fix NULL pointer dereference when reading portli debugfs files

Michal reported and debgged a NULL pointer dereference bug in the recently added portli debugfs files

Oops is caused when there are more port registers counted in xhci->max_ports than ports reported by Supported Protocol capabilities. This is possible if max_ports is more than maximum port number, or if there are gaps between ports of different speeds the 'Supported Protocol' capabilities.

In such cases port->rhub will be NULL so we can't reach xhci behind it. Add an explicit NULL check for this case, and print portli in hex without dereferencing port->rhub.

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43431?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-43431?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-43431 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43431 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43431, GHSA-q7mh-rc36-3j7h, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43431.