CVE-2026-19737: i2s_esp32_trigger_check() in drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c validates the requested direction only for I2S_DIR

i2s_esp32_trigger_check() in drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c validates the requested direction only for I2S_DIR_BOTH.

i2s_esp32_trigger_check() in drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c validates the requested direction only for I2S_DIR_BOTH. The I2S_DIR_RX and I2S_DIR_TX branches read dev_cfg->rx.data->configured / dev_cfg->tx.data->configured without first checking the stream pointers. The device instantiation macro I2S_ESP32_STREAM_INIT() sets both .conf and .data to NULL for a direction the devicetree does not describe, so on an instance that wires only one direction — the normal shape for audio output or a worldsemi,ws2812-i2s LED strip — the other direction dereferences a NULL pointer instead of returning an error. i2s_trigger() is a Zephyr syscall, and z_vrfy_i2s_trigger() in drivers/i2s/i2s_handlers.c validates only the device object and the presence of the trigger API pointer; the dir argument is passed to the driver unvalidated. On a build with CONFIG_USERSPACE enabled, a user-mode thread that has been granted the I2S device can issue a single i2s_trigger() call naming the unwired direction and cause a load from address 0 in kernel mode. Among the Espressif parts that carry this driver, userspace is available in-tree only on RISC-V SoCs with CONFIG_RISCV_PMP, and v4.4.0 is the first release where that

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org

What it means for a small business

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How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.10%, higher than 0% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 28, 2026, updated daily.

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