CVE-2026-90221 json
nfc: nci: fix use of uninitialized memory in CORE_INIT_RSP parsing
published 2026-09-17 52 d ago modified 2026-10-19 21 d ago also EUVD-2026-81814
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 11%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
nfc: nci: fix use of uninitialized memory in CORE_INIT_RSP parsing
nci_core_init_rsp_packet_v1() and nci_core_init_rsp_packet_v2() parse the CORE_INIT_RSP packet without validating that the skb contains enough data. A malformed response (e.g. injected via virtual_ncidev) can declare a large num_supported_rf_interfaces while providing insufficient data, causing reads of uninitialized slab memory. This is later used in nci_init_complete_req(), triggering a KMSAN uninit-value warning.
Add skb length checks before accessing packet fields: - Validate the skb has at least 1 byte for the status field. - Validate the skb can hold the fixed-size header before parsing. - In v2, bounds-check each variable-length rf_interface entry and its extension parameters within the parsing loop. - In v1, verify the skb is large enough for both the variable-length rf_interfaces array and the trailing rsp_2 structure.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3
- linux Debian 12 6.1.190-1
- linux Debian 13 6.12.111-1
- linux Debian 14 7.2.6-1
- linux-6.12 Debian 12 6.12.111-1~deb12u1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90221
- linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-202.212
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42
- linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1119.126
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.17
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1120.130
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.18
- linux-gke Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1115.121
- linux-ibm Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1113.117
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90221
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-source Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-159998.55.1
- kernel-default Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-159998.55.1
- kernel-kvmsmall Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-159998.55.1
- kernel-default-base Linux Micro 6.0 6.4.0-159998.55.1.159998.21.42
- kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1
- kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1
- kernel-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1
- kernel-source SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:24550-1SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1
- kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 7.2.7-1.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:11880-1
- kernel Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.157.1-1
azure linux advisories AZL-102122
Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/baed3fdf6ed2195c56f25ae18a086b938dcd3983 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/2f434478771a4ebdd535033561c0590bcde39753 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/5487f04c1ccbfa15aa6e531eb1ec9c9ec9c7bf31 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/bbe68e8249e2c76d65adfd9224fa95f1ca0fbe4e commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f0483bbcdaccc9d4aee30df7351863334cecfa7 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d44b897bff84edcd4814899314d661ad4956a8e commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d56575a2595ee1f597f39e8a1cfb67ed3501678d commit
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-90221 updated cvss 5.5
kernel: nfc: nci: fix use of uninitialized memory in CORE_INIT_RSP parsing
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9not affected: vulnerable code not present
+1 more productsfewer
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
Exploit prediction
0.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 11% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/baed3fdf6ed2195c56f25ae18a086b938dcd3983
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/2f434478771a4ebdd535033561c0590bcde39753
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/5487f04c1ccbfa15aa6e531eb1ec9c9ec9c7bf31
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/bbe68e8249e2c76d65adfd9224fa95f1ca0fbe4e
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/4f0483bbcdaccc9d4aee30df7351863334cecfa7
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/7d44b897bff84edcd4814899314d661ad4956a8e
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/d56575a2595ee1f597f39e8a1cfb67ed3501678d
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-90221
- NVD CVE-2026-90221
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.