# CVE-2026-90281: phy: qcom: snps-femto-v2: Fix possible NULL-deref on early runtime suspend

> A race condition in the Qualcomm SNPS FEMTO v2 PHY driver allows a NULL pointer dereference during early runtime suspend, causing a kernel crash.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-102404, BELL-CVE-2026-90281, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90281, GHSA-26w5-r3wx-93h7, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90281

## What is CVE-2026-90281?

CVE-2026-90281 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 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:

phy: qcom: snps-femto-v2: Fix possible NULL-deref on early runtime suspend

Runtime PM must be enabled before creating the PHY, since phy_create()
only enables runtime PM on the PHY device if it is already enabled on
this parent device. However, the runtime PM callbacks dereference the
hsphy instance, which is not yet ready, leaving a window where a suspend
callback may trigger a NULL pointer dereference.

Take a runtime PM usage reference with pm_runtime_get_noresume() before
enabling runtime PM and release it once the PHY has been created, so that
no runtime suspend can run before the PHY is ready. This also prevents a
short window where an unnecessary runtime suspend can occur.

Use the devres-managed version to ensure PM runtime is symmetrically
disabled during driver removal for proper cleanup.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90281?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-90281?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-90281 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90281 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90281 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90281 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 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-2026-90281 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-90281/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90281/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90281
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90281
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90281

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90281/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.