# CVE-2026-53158: misc: fastrpc: Fix NULL pointer dereference in rpmsg callback

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel fastrpc driver allows a local attacker to cause a system crash during boot or initialization.

- **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:** 25 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 4 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-53158, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53158, GHSA-j24m-w36c-325g, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-53158, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53158, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-53158, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-53158, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53158

## What is CVE-2026-53158?

CVE-2026-53158 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jun 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:

misc: fastrpc: Fix NULL pointer dereference in rpmsg callback

A NULL pointer dereference was observed on Hawi at boot when the DSP
sends a glink message before fastrpc_rpmsg_probe() has completed
initialization:

  Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000178
  pc : _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x34/0x8c
  lr : fastrpc_rpmsg_callback+0x3c/0xcc [fastrpc]
  ...
  Call trace:
   _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x34/0x8c (P)
   fastrpc_rpmsg_callback+0x3c/0xcc [fastrpc]
   qcom_glink_native_rx+0x538/0x6a4
   qcom_glink_smem_intr+0x14/0x24 [qcom_glink_smem]

The faulting address 0x178 corresponds to the lock variable inside
struct fastrpc_channel_ctx, confirming that cctx is NULL when
fastrpc_rpmsg_callback() attempts to take the spinlock.

There are two issues here. First, dev_set_drvdata() is called before
spin_lock_init() and idr_init(), leaving a window where the callback
can retrieve a valid cctx pointer but operate on an uninitialized
spinlock. Second, the rpmsg channel becomes live as soon as the driver
is bound, so fastrpc_rpmsg_callback() can fire before dev_set_drvdata()
is called at all, resulting in dev_get_drvdata() returning NULL.

Fix both issues by moving all cctx initialization ahead of
dev_set_drvdata() so the structure is fully initialized before it
becomes visible to the callback, and add a NULL check in
fastrpc_rpmsg_callback() as a guard against any remaining window.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53158?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53158?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53158 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53158 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-2026-53158 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53158 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jun 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-2026-53158 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-2026-53158/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53158/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53158
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53158
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53158

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53158/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.