What is CVE-2026-53338?

CVE-2026-53338 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476), affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and patched in 6.18.36, 7.0.13 and 7.1. CVE-2026-53338 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-53338?

CVE-2026-53338 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-53338?

Yes, CVE-2026-53338 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.36, 7.0.13 and 7.1. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-53338 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-53338 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2026-53338

Medium

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.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-07-01

Last modified 2026-07-23

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2026-53338 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.36, 7.0.13, 7.1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.16

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.36 6.18.x ✓ 7.0.13 7.0.x ✓ 7.1

References

3 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/01f7d4b504580664d36faea5671cde5e3f0d8a5b

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cdb96c42db7b256348f9b57718debfaa4bca6b39

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9f25118faa4dd2b6e3d14a03d123bbdbd59925d

Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-53338

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-07-01

Modified 2026-07-23

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-53338?

CVE-2026-53338 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and has been patched in 6.18.36, 7.0.13 and 7.1. CVE-2026-53338 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-53338?

CVE-2026-53338 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-53338?

Yes. CVE-2026-53338 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.36, 7.0.13 and 7.1. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-53338 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-53338 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.