# CVE-2026-93236: media: meson: vdec: fix NULL pointer deref in vdec_try_fmt_common

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by triggering a NULL pointer dereference in the Meson video decoder driver when using unsupported pixel formats.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 24 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-93236, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-93236, GHSA-24fx-cxxf-wpf5, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-93236

## What is CVE-2026-93236?

CVE-2026-93236 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:

media: meson: vdec: fix NULL pointer deref in vdec_try_fmt_common

When VIDIOC_TRY_FMT is called with an unsupported pixel format on the
OUTPUT queue, vdec_try_fmt_common() falls back to V4L2_PIX_FMT_MPEG2.
However, if a distro has locally patched MPEG2 support out (as it has
been broken for some time) the platform format table does not contain
MPEG2 so find_format() returns NULL and the subsequent dereference of
fmt_out->max_width triggers a NULL pointer dereference.

Fix this by falling back to the first format in the platform's format
array instead of hardcoding V4L2_PIX_FMT_MPEG2. This is always valid
since every platform defines at least one format.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-93236?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-93236?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-93236 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-93236 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-93236 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-93236 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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-2026-93236 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-2026-93236/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-93236/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-93236
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-93236
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-93236

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-93236/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.