---
id: "CVE-2026-98931"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98931"]
title: "Linux kernel: SPI-NAND probe crashes when no ECC engine is set"
severity: "low"
cvss: null
epss: 0.00209
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["device-tree", "embedded", "infrastructure", "linux-kernel"]
not_affected_if: ["default-config", "no-spi-nand-device"]
published_at: "2026-10-23T13:17:13+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98931", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-98931", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: SPI-NAND probe crashes when no ECC engine is set

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.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98931
- 2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-98931

## From the sources

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mtd: spinand: fix NULL pointer dereference with no ECC engine

When "nand-no-ecc-engine" is set in DT, nanddev_get_ecc_engine() takes
the NAND_ECC_ENGINE_TYPE_NONE path and returns success while leaving
nand->ecc.engine NULL. The SPI-NAND code nevertheless dereferences it
unconditionally to test for a pipelined engine, so probing such a
device oopses immediately.

Rather than open-coding the test three times, add a
nand_ecc_is_pipelined() helper to the NAND core that folds the NULL
check into the integration comparison, and use it everywhere. Future
callers then cannot reintroduce the problem.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_