A firmware node allocated on the stack or heap with a non‑zeroing allocator and initialized by fwnode_init() leaves the fwnode_handle->secondary pointer uninitialized. When an API later dereferences this pointer, such as dev_to_swnode(), the kernel can crash or exhibit undefined behavior, leading to a denial‑of‑service condition. The weakness arises from a missing initialization of the fwnode_handle structure fields.

All Linux kernel releases that have not incorporated the commit that sets fwnode_handle->secondary to NULL and fully initializes the structure are potentially affected. The exact version range is not specified, so any kernel lacking this patch is at risk.

Because the vulnerability requires the creation or manipulation of a firmware node, it is likely limited to local exploitation by code running in kernel mode (e.g., a malicious driver or firmware). No EPSS score is available and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, indicating no publicly known exploits yet. Nonetheless, a kernel crash is a high‑risk outcome, and the lack of zeroing makes the bug trivially exploitable in a local context.