Bug 2439882 (CVE-2026-23146)

Summary: CVE-2026-23146 kernel: Linux kernel: Denial of Service in Bluetooth HCI UART driver via null pointer dereference
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Bluetooth HCI UART driver. A race condition exists where the `hci_uart_write_work()` function may attempt to access uninitialized private data if a TTY write wakeup occurs during the protocol initialization phase. This can lead to a NULL pointer dereference, potentially causing a system crash and resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-02-14 17:01:17 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

Bluetooth: hci_uart: fix null-ptr-deref in hci_uart_write_work

hci_uart_set_proto() sets HCI_UART_PROTO_INIT before calling
hci_uart_register_dev(), which calls proto->open() to initialize
hu->priv. However, if a TTY write wakeup occurs during this window,
hci_uart_tx_wakeup() may schedule write_work before hu->priv is
initialized, leading to a NULL pointer dereference in
hci_uart_write_work() when proto->dequeue() accesses hu->priv.

The race condition is:

  CPU0                              CPU1
  ----                              ----
  hci_uart_set_proto()
    set_bit(HCI_UART_PROTO_INIT)
    hci_uart_register_dev()
                                    tty write wakeup
                                      hci_uart_tty_wakeup()
                                        hci_uart_tx_wakeup()
                                          schedule_work(&hu->write_work)
      proto->open(hu)
        // initializes hu->priv
                                    hci_uart_write_work()
                                      hci_uart_dequeue()
                                        proto->dequeue(hu)
                                          // accesses hu->priv (NULL!)

Fix this by moving set_bit(HCI_UART_PROTO_INIT) after proto->open()
succeeds, ensuring hu->priv is initialized before any work can be
scheduled.