{"id":"CVE-2026-98931","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-98931"],"related":[],"title":"Linux kernel: SPI-NAND probe crashes when no ECC engine is set","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmtd: spinand: fix NULL pointer dereference with no ECC engine\n\nWhen \"nand-no-ecc-engine\" is set in DT, nanddev_get_ecc_engine() takes\nthe NAND_ECC_ENGINE_TYPE_NONE path and returns success while leaving\nnand->ecc.engine NULL. The SPI-NAND code nevertheless dereferences it\nunconditionally to test for a pipelined engine, so probing such a\ndevice oopses immediately.\n\nRather than open-coding the test three times, add a\nnand_ecc_is_pipelined() helper to the NAND core that folds the NULL\ncheck into the integration comparison, and use it everywhere. Future\ncallers then cannot reintroduce the problem.","summary":"When a SPI-NAND device is declared with nand-no-ecc-engine in the device tree, the kernel's SPI-NAND driver dereferences a NULL pointer during probe and oopses. The sources describe a crash on probe, not code execution or data exposure.","severity":"low","cvss":null,"epss":0.00209,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["device-tree","embedded","infrastructure","linux-kernel"],"not_affected_if":["default-config","no-spi-nand-device"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:13+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-25T04:58:10+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-25T04:58:10Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Linux kernel: SPI-NAND probe crashes when no ECC engine is set","impact":"low","summary":"When a SPI-NAND device is declared with nand-no-ecc-engine in the device tree, the kernel's SPI-NAND driver dereferences a NULL pointer during probe and oopses. The sources describe a crash on probe, not code execution or data exposure.","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["linux-kernel","embedded","device-tree"],"confidence":0.6,"needs_auth":"no","worst_case":"Kernel oops during SPI-NAND probe, denial of service at boot.","analyst_note":"","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":false,"not_affected_if":["no-spi-nand-device","default-config"],"who_is_affected":"Systems running a Linux kernel with the MTD SPI-NAND driver that boot with a device tree declaring nand-no-ecc-engine on a SPI-NAND chip. Systems without such a device tree entry are not hit by this path.","user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"yes","severity_if_unknown":"low"},"cost_usd":0.000554,"input_tokens":3480,"output_tokens":411,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2026':15A,18A '-98931':16A,19A 'add':155C 'caller':180C 'cannot':182C 'check':170C 'code':69B,128C,150C 'comparison':174C 'core':165C 'crash':7A,65B 'cve':14A,17A 'data':72B 'declar':35B 'derefer':53B,89C,130C 'describ':63B 'devic':21B,33B,44B,143C 'device-tre':20B 'driver':52B 'dt':103C 'ecc':10A,40B,92C,98C,106C,111C,158C 'ecc.engine':122C 'embed':23B 'engin':11A,41B,93C,99C,107C,112C,138C 'everywher':178C 'execut':70B 'exposur':73B 'fix':86C 'fold':167C 'follow':79C 'futur':179C 'get':105C 'helper':161C 'immedi':145C 'infrastructur':24B 'integr':173C 'kernel':2A,27B,47B,77C 'leav':120C 'linux':1A,26B,76C 'linux-kernel':25B 'mtd':84C 'nand':5A,32B,38B,51B,96C,110C,121C,127C,157C,164C 'nand-no-ecc-engin':37B,95C 'nanddev':104C 'nevertheless':129C 'none':114C 'null':55B,87C,123C,169C 'oops':60B,144C 'open':149C 'open-cod':148C 'path':115C 'pipelin':137C,160C 'pointer':56B,88C 'probe':6A,58B,67B,140C 'problem':185C 'rather':146C 'reintroduc':183C 'resolv':83C 'return':117C 'set':13A,101C 'sourc':62B 'spi':4A,31B,50B,126C 'spi-nand':3A,30B,49B,125C 'spinand':85C 'success':118C 'take':108C 'test':134C,152C 'three':153C 'time':154C 'tree':22B,45B 'type':113C 'uncondit':132C 'use':176C 'vulner':80C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Systems running a Linux kernel with the MTD SPI-NAND driver that boot with a device tree declaring nand-no-ecc-engine on a SPI-NAND chip. Systems without such a device tree entry are not hit by this path.","tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:13+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":null,"cvss_by":null,"poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-98931","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98931","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:13+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:13+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:03+00:00","note":null},{"source":"epss","external_id":"CVE-2026-98931","url":"https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-98931","severity":null,"published_at":null,"modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}