# CVE-2026-53338: net: airoha: Add NULL check for of_reserved_mem_lookup() in airoha_qdma_init_hfwd_queues()

> A missing NULL check in the Airoha QDMA driver can cause a kernel crash if the device tree is misconfigured, leading to 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 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 1 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-53338, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53338, GHSA-fxch-pwp2-83j7, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53338

## What is CVE-2026-53338?

CVE-2026-53338 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Jul 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:

net: airoha: Add NULL check for of_reserved_mem_lookup() in airoha_qdma_init_hfwd_queues()

of_reserved_mem_lookup() may return NULL if the reserved memory region
referenced by the "memory-region" phandle is not found in the reserved
memory table (e.g. due to a misconfigured DTS or a removed
memory-region node).  The current code dereferences the returned
pointer without checking for NULL, leading to a kernel NULL pointer
dereference at the following lines:

    dma_addr = rmem->base;                          // line 1156
    num_desc = div_u64(rmem->size, buf_size);       // line 1160

Add a NULL check after of_reserved_mem_lookup() and return -ENODEV if
the lookup fails, which is consistent with the existing error handling
for of_parse_phandle() failure in the same code block.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53338?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53338?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53338 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53338 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-2026-53338 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53338 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Jul 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-2026-53338 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-2026-53338/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53338/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53338
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53338
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53338

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53338/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.