Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-53338

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Developing Published 2026-07-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.18.36 / 7.0.13 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click 7 weeks old

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
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.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · low confidence
Developing — this CVE was published recently and its authoritative NVD entry is still being established, so we're holding a technical summary until the source data settles rather than publish something unreliable. Re-checking after 2026-08-07.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.16, < 6.18.36>= 6.19, < 7.0.13= 7.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.18.36 / 7.0.13 or later
Fixed in 6.18.367.0.13
Recommended fix High confidence

6.18.36+/6.19.0+/7.0.13+/7.2+ (depending on current branch)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. If running kernel version is >= 6.16 and < 6.18.36, upgrade to kernel version 6.18.36 or later (6.18.x or 6.19.x)
  3. If running kernel version is >= 6.19 and < 7.0.13, upgrade to kernel version 7.0.13 or later (7.0.x or 7.1.x)
  4. If running kernel version is 7.1, upgrade to kernel version 7.2 or later
  5. After upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the airoha driver loads correctly
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuild of out-of-tree modules; ensure third-party drivers are compatible with the target kernel version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-53338 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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