Null Pointer Dereference
A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).
How It Works
A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0). In normal operation, pointers should reference valid memory locations before use. When a pointer is NULL—either uninitialized, explicitly set to NULL, or returned as NULL from a failed allocation—and the program tries to read from, write to, or execute code at that address, the operating system intervenes. On modern systems, accessing address zero triggers a segmentation fault that immediately terminates the process.
Attackers exploit this by manipulating program logic to force null pointer conditions. Common techniques include triggering allocation failures in low-memory conditions, providing malformed input that bypasses initialization checks, or exploiting race conditions where a pointer is checked for NULL but becomes NULL before use. The attacker identifies code paths where null checks are missing or inadequate, then crafts inputs to reach those vulnerable states.
On legacy systems without memory protection, attackers could map their own code at address zero, converting a crash into arbitrary code execution. Modern operating systems prevent this through mmap_min_addr restrictions that prohibit mapping memory below a threshold (typically 64KB). This mitigation has largely relegated null pointer dereferences to denial-of-service attacks rather than remote code execution vectors.
Impact
- Service disruption: Immediate process crash, taking down the vulnerable application or daemon
- Availability attacks: Repeated crashes forcing system restarts or service downtime
- Limited code execution: On unpatched legacy systems (pre-2009 Linux kernels, older embedded devices) where address zero mapping is possible
- Privilege escalation: In kernel-mode drivers where null dereferences can be exploited to execute attacker code with system privileges
Real-World Examples
The Linux kernel suffered from CVE-2009-2908, where null pointer dereferences in various subsystems could be exploited on systems allowing mmap at address zero. Attackers could map malicious code at NULL and trigger kernel null dereferences to achieve privilege escalation. This prompted the introduction of mmap_min_addr protections.
Microsoft Windows drivers have been frequent targets, including CVE-2020-17087 in the Windows kernel cryptography driver. Attackers triggered null pointer dereferences in kernel mode, which on older Windows versions could be exploited for local privilege escalation by controlling the null page.
Web browsers have experienced denial-of-service through null dereferences when parsing malformed content. Firefox CVE-2019-11707 involved a null pointer dereference in the IonMonkey JIT compiler, allowing attackers to crash the browser with specially crafted JavaScript, though not achieve code execution due to modern protections.
Mitigation
- Explicit null checks: Validate all pointers before dereferencing, especially after allocation or function calls that may return NULL
- Static analysis tools: Deploy analyzers like Coverity, Clang Static Analyzer, or PVS-Studio to detect missing null checks during development
- Address space layout: Enable
mmap_min_addrkernel protection (standard on modern Linux, typically 65536 bytes) - Fuzzing: Use AFL, libFuzzer, or similar tools to stress-test error handling paths and allocation failures
- Safe coding practices: Initialize pointers to NULL, use smart pointers in C++, adopt languages with built-in null safety
- Runtime bounds checking: Enable AddressSanitizer during testing to catch null dereferences immediately
Recent CVEs (4134)
A vulnerability has been identified in Tecnomatix Plant Simulation V2201 (All versions), Tecnomatix Plant Simulation V2302 (All versions < V2302.0007). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
A vulnerability has been identified in Tecnomatix Plant Simulation V2201 (All versions), Tecnomatix Plant Simulation V2302 (All versions < V2302.0007). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
A vulnerability has been identified in Parasolid V35.0 (All versions < V35.0.251), Parasolid V35.1 (All versions < V35.1.170). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Envoy is a high-performance edge/middle/service proxy. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Bento4 v1.6.0-640 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the AP4_DescriptorFinder::Test() function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Bento4 v1.6.0-640 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the AP4_StszAtom::GetSampleSize() function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Vba32 Antivirus v3.36.0 is vulnerable to a Denial of Service vulnerability by triggering the 0x2220A7 IOCTL code of the Vba32m64.sys driver. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A null pointer dereference flaw was found in the hugetlbfs_fill_super function in the Linux kernel hugetlbfs (HugeTLB pages) functionality. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Issue summary: Processing a maliciously formatted PKCS12 file may lead OpenSSL to crash leading to a potential Denial of Service attack Impact summary: Applications loading files in the PKCS12 format. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in Linux Linux kernel kernel on Linux, x86, ARM (net, bluetooth modules) allows Overflow Buffers. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
IObit Malware Fighter v11.0.0.1274 is vulnerable to a Denial of Service vulnerability by triggering the 0x8001E00C IOCTL code of the ImfHpRegFilter.sys driver. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in the QEMU built-in VNC server while processing ClientCutText messages. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
A NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in Juniper Networks Junos OS Evolved on ACX7024, ACX7100-32C and ACX7100-48L allows an unauthenticated, network-based attacker to cause a Denial of Service. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
jwx is a Go module implementing various JWx (JWA/JWE/JWK/JWS/JWT, otherwise known as JOSE) technologies. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
A vulnerability has been identified in JT2Go (All versions < V14.3.0.6), Teamcenter Visualization V13.3 (All versions < V13.3.0.13), Teamcenter Visualization V14.1 (All versions < V14.1.0.12),. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
When a transaction is committed, C Xenstored will first check the quota is correct before attempting to commit any nodes. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Nullptr dereference in paddle.crop in PaddlePaddle before 2.6.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Nullptr in paddle.put_along_axis in PaddlePaddle before 2.6.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Nullptr in paddle.nextafter in PaddlePaddle before 2.6.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Nullptr in paddle.dot in PaddlePaddle before 2.6.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
IEEE 1609.2 dissector crash in Wireshark 4.2.0, 4.0.0 to 4.0.11, and 3.6.0 to 3.6.19 allows denial of service via packet injection or crafted capture file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Transient DOS while processing a WMI P2P listen start command (0xD00A) sent from host. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Permanent DOS in Hypervisor while untrusted VM without PSCI support makes a PSCI call. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
OpenNDS, as used in Sierra Wireless ALEOS before 4.17.0.12 and other products, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference, daemon crash, and Captive Portal outage). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
C-blosc2 before 2.9.3 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the function zfp_rate_decompress at zfp/blosc2-zfp.c. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
C-blosc2 before 2.9.3 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the zfp/blosc2-zfp.c zfp_acc_decompress. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
C-blosc2 before 2.9.3 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference in ndlz/ndlz8x8.c via a NULL pointer to memset. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
C-blosc2 before 2.9.3 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the function zfp_prec_decompress at zfp/blosc2-zfp.c. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A null pointer dereference vulnerability was found in ath10k_wmi_tlv_op_pull_mgmt_tx_compl_ev() in drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi-tlv.c in the Linux kernel. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
cJSON v1.7.16 was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via the function cJSON_SetValuestring at cJSON.c. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
cJSON v1.7.16 was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via the function cJSON_InsertItemInArray at cJSON.c. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in SchedMD Slurm 22.05.x, 23.02.x, and 23.11.x. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe InDesign versions 19.0 (and earlier) and 17.4.2 (and earlier) are affected by a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A null pointer dereference vulnerability was found in dpll_pin_parent_pin_set() in drivers/dpll/dpll_netlink.c in the Digital Phase Locked Loop (DPLL) subsystem in the Linux kernel. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
A null pointer dereference vulnerability was found in nft_dynset_init() in net/netfilter/nft_dynset.c in nf_tables in the Linux kernel. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In multiple locations, there is a possible null dereference due to a missing null check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Transient DOS when processing a NULL buffer while parsing WLAN vdev. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory corruption when processing cmd parameters while parsing vdev. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Azure RTOS USBX is a USB host, device, and on-the-go (OTG) embedded stack, that is fully integrated with Azure RTOS ThreadX. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The ACEManager component of ALEOS 4.16 and earlier does not adequately perform input sanitization during authentication, which could potentially result in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition for. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
cryptography is a package designed to expose cryptographic primitives and recipes to Python developers. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A null pointer dereference flaw was found in the nft_inner.c functionality of netfilter in the Linux kernel. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
An issue was discovered in OpenNDS Captive Portal before version 10.1.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in OpenNDS Captive Portal before version 10.1.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in OpenNDS Captive Portal before version 10.1.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in OpenNDS Captive Portal before version 10.1.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in OpenNDS Captive Portal before 10.1.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A null pointer dereference flaw was found in the Linux kernel API for the cryptographic algorithm scatterwalk functionality. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7).
An issue in RedisGraph v.2.12.10 allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code and cause a denial of service via a crafted string in DataBlock_ItemIsDeleted. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Transient DOS in WLAN Firmware when firmware receives beacon including T2LM IE. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Squid is a caching proxy for the Web supporting HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and more. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
NVIDIA vGPU software for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager (vGPU plugin), where a NULL-pointer dereference may lead to denial of service. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer, where a NULL-pointer dereference may lead to denial of service. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA vGPU software for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager (vGPU plugin), where a malicious user in the guest VM can cause a NULL-pointer dereference, which may. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer, where an unprivileged regular user can cause a NULL-pointer dereference, which may lead to denial of service. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In International Color Consortium DemoIccMAX 79ecb74, CIccXformMatrixTRC::GetCurve in IccCmm.cpp in libSampleICC.a has a NULL pointer dereference. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in the Linux kernel through 6.5.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7). This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Catdoc v0.95 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the component xls2csv at src/xlsparse.c. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
stb_vorbis is a single file MIT licensed library for processing ogg vorbis files. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
stb_image is a single file MIT licensed library for processing images. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NULL Pointer Dereference in GitHub repository seleniumhq/selenium prior to 4.14.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
NULL Pointer Dereference in GitHub repository gpac/gpac prior to 2.3.0-DEV. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability has been reported to affect several QNAP operating system versions. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Microsoft QUIC Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Microsoft AllJoyn API Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Windows TCP/IP Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Windows TCP/IP Denial of Service Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
NULL Pointer Dereference in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 20d161ace307e28690229b68584f2d84556f8960. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the Linux kernel ipv4 stack. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Nothings stb 2.28 was discovered to contain a Null Pointer Dereference via the function stbi__convert_format. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Transient DOS in Modem while allocating DSM items. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) feature of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
libvips is a demand-driven, horizontally threaded image processing library. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
An issue was discovered in Samsung Exynos Mobile Processor, Automotive Processor, and Modem (Exynos Mobile Processor, Automotive Processor, and Modem - Exynos 9810, Exynos 9610, Exynos 9820, Exynos. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in FRRouting FRR through 9.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
Catdoc v0.95 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the component xls2csv at src/fileutil.c. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), released under the Apache license. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
NULL Pointer Dereference in GitHub repository gpac/gpac prior to 2.3-DEV. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
NULL Pointer Dereference in GitHub repository gpac/gpac prior to 2.3-DEV. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in FRRouting FRR through 9.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability could allow attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer.
An issue was discovered in Libreswan 3.x and 4.x before 4.12. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Libreswan before 4.12. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue in skalenetwork sgxwallet v.1.9.0 and below allows an attacker to cause a denial of service via the trustedGenerateEcdsaKey component. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Null pointer dereference in ieee_write_file in nasm 2.16rc0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (crash). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in vmxnet3_rq_cleanup in drivers/net/vmxnet3/vmxnet3_drv.c in the networking sub-component in vmxnet3 in the Linux Kernel. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
D-Link DIR-880 A1_FW107WWb08 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference in the function FUN_00010824. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in dbFree in fs/jfs/jfs_dmap.c in the journaling file system (JFS) in the Linux Kernel. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
QEMU through 8.0.4 accesses a NULL pointer in nvme_directive_receive in hw/nvme/ctrl.c because there is no check for whether an endurance group is configured before checking whether Flexible Data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Input parameter verification vulnerability in the communication system. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.