In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: health: max30102: fix NULL dereference in interrupt handler The interrupt… (CVE-2026-98665)

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel's max30102 driver involves a NULL pointer dereference in the interrupt handler. The interrupt remains enabled for the device's lifetime, but the active_scan_mask pointer is only valid when a buffer is enabled. If an interrupt occurs without an enabled buffer, the handler dereferences a NULL pointer, causing a kernel crash. The patch adds a call to max30102_fifo_count() at the start of the handler to verify if a FIFO sample is ready. If not, the handler returns early, avoiding access to the NULL active_scan_mask. This prevents the kernel from crashing due to the NULL pointer dereference.

This vulnerability can cause a kernel NULL pointer dereference leading to a system crash (kernel panic) when the interrupt handler accesses a NULL pointer. This affects system stability and could cause denial of service on affected devices running the vulnerable Linux kernel with the max30102 driver.

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to address this issue by adding a check in the interrupt handler to avoid dereferencing a NULL pointer. Users should apply the official Linux kernel updates that include this patch to remediate the vulnerability. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.