CVE-2026-64165 ARM: integrator: Fix early initialization
A null pointer dereference in the ARM Integrator early initialization code causes a kernel crash, leading to denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-64165?
CVE-2026-64165 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 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:
ARM: integrator: Fix early initialization
Starting with commit bdb249fce9ad4 ("ARM: integrator: read counter using syscon/regmap"), intcp_init_early calls syscon_regmap_lookup_by_compatible which in turn calls of_syscon_register. This function allocates memory. Since the memory management code has not been initialized at that time, the call always fails. It either returns -ENOMEM or crashes as follows.
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000c when read [0000000c] *pgd=00000000 Internal error: Oops: 5 [#1] ARM Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5-00026-g5fcc9bf84ee5 #1 PREEMPT Hardware name: ARM Integrator/CP (Device Tree) PC is at __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0xec/0x39c LR is at __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x34/0x39c ... Call trace: __kmalloc_cache_noprof from of_syscon_register+0x7c/0x310 of_syscon_register from device_node_get_regmap+0xa4/0xb0 device_node_get_regmap from intcp_init_early+0xc/0x40 intcp_init_early from start_kernel+0x60/0x688 start_kernel from 0x0
The crash is seen due to a dereferenced pointer which is not supposed to be NULL but is NULL if the memory management subsystem has not been initialized. The crash is not seen with all versions of gcc. Some versions such as gcc 9.x apparently do not dereference the pointer, presumably if tracing is disabled. The problem has been reproduced with gcc 10.x, 11.x, and 13.x. Either case, if the crash is not seen, the call to syscon_regmap_lookup_by_compatible returns -ENOMEM, and sched_clock_register is never called.
Fix the problem by moving the early initialization code into the standard machine initialization code.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64165?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-64165?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-64165 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64165 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-64165, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64165, GHSA-w8wx-87mq-w4r7, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64165.