In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: typec: tcpm: Check for port partner validity before consuming it typec_register_partner() does not guarantee partner registration to always succeed. In the event of failure, port->partner is set to the error value or NULL. Given that port->partner validity is not checked, this results in the following crash: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address xx pc : run_state_machine+0x1bc8/0x1c08 lr : run_state_machine+0x1b90/0x1c08 .. Call trace: run_state_machine+0x1bc8/0x1c08 tcpm_state_machine_work+0x94/0xe4 kthread_worker_fn+0x118/0x328 kthread+0x1d0/0x23c ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 To prevent the crash, check for port->partner validity before derefencing it in all the call sites.