Linux · Linux Kernel · CVE-2021-47631
**Name of the Vulnerable Software and Affected Versions**
Linux kernel versions prior to 5.15.0
**Description**
A NULL pointer dereference issue has been identified in the Linux kernel, specifically in the da850-evm configuration for the ARM architecture. This issue occurs when booting with newer versions of GCC, resulting in a kernel panic. The problem arises because the emac pdata pointer in soc info is NULL, as davinci soc info only gets populated on davinci machines, but da850 evm config emac() is called on all machines. The error manifests as an "Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference" message.
**Recommendations**
For Linux kernel version 5.15.0, move the rmii en assignment below the machine check to prevent the NULL pointer dereference.
At the moment, there is no information about a newer version that contains a fix for this vulnerability.