long keyctl_update_key(key_serial_t id,
		       const void __user *_payload,
		       size_t plen)
{
	key_ref_t key_ref;
	void *payload;
	long ret;

	ret = -EINVAL;
	if (plen > PAGE_SIZE)
		goto error;

	/* pull the payload in if one was supplied */
	payload = NULL;
	if (_payload) {
		ret = -ENOMEM;
		payload = kmalloc(plen, GFP_KERNEL);
		if (!payload)
			goto error;

		ret = -EFAULT;
		if (copy_from_user(payload, _payload, plen) != 0)
			goto error2;
	}

	/* find the target key (which must be writable) */
	key_ref = lookup_user_key(id, 0, KEY_NEED_WRITE);
	if (IS_ERR(key_ref)) {
		ret = PTR_ERR(key_ref);
		goto error2;
	}

	/* update the key */
	ret = key_update(key_ref, payload, plen);

	key_ref_put(key_ref);
error2:
	kfree(payload);
error:
	return ret;
}
A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit.