Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-31485 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-31485 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the Linux kernel's spi-fsl-lpspi driver, which manages the Freescale Layerscape LPSPI SPI controller. The flaw stems from an incorrect teardown order during driver removal. The driver registers the SPI controller with devm_spi_register_controller(), delaying unregistration until after fsl_lpspi_remove() completes. However, fsl_lpspi_remove() synchronously tears down DMA channels, which can trigger a NULL pointer dereference if an SPI transfer is active, as evidenced by kernel logs showing errors in fsl_lpspi_dma_transfer and call traces involving spidev ioctls.
A local attacker with low privileges (AV:L/PR:L) can exploit this low-complexity vulnerability (AC:L/UI:N) without user interaction. By initiating an SPI transfer via the spidev interface during driver removal—such as through spidev_message and spidev_ioctl—they can trigger the use-after-free, leading to a kernel NULL pointer dereference at address 0x0000000000000000. The CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 (C:H/I:H/A:H) indicates potential for high-impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability violations, including system crashes or further exploitation of the freed memory.
Kernel patches in stable repositories address the issue by replacing devm_spi_register_controller() with spi_register_controller() in fsl_lpspi_probe() and adding spi_unregister_controller() in fsl_lpspi_remove(), ensuring proper teardown sequencing. Relevant commits include 15650dfbaeeb, adb25339b661, b341c1176f2e, ca4483f36ac1, and d5d01f24bc6f, published upstream as of April 22, 2026. Security practitioners should update affected Linux kernels promptly.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-24849
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: spi: spi-fsl-lpspi: fix teardown order issue (UAF) There is a teardown order issue in the driver. The SPI controller is registered using devm_spi_register_controller(), which delays unregistration of the SPI controller…
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until after the fsl_lpspi_remove() function returns. As the fsl_lpspi_remove() function synchronously tears down the DMA channels, a running SPI transfer triggers the following NULL pointer dereference due to use after free: | fsl_lpspi 42550000.spi: I/O Error in DMA RX | Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [...] | Call trace: | fsl_lpspi_dma_transfer+0x260/0x340 [spi_fsl_lpspi] | fsl_lpspi_transfer_one+0x198/0x448 [spi_fsl_lpspi] | spi_transfer_one_message+0x49c/0x7c8 | __spi_pump_transfer_message+0x120/0x420 | __spi_sync+0x2c4/0x520 | spi_sync+0x34/0x60 | spidev_message+0x20c/0x378 [spidev] | spidev_ioctl+0x398/0x750 [spidev] [...] Switch from devm_spi_register_controller() to spi_register_controller() in fsl_lpspi_probe() and add the corresponding spi_unregister_controller() in fsl_lpspi_remove().
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V1.4.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.
Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.
Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.
Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.
Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.
Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.
Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.
Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.
Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
- V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416