diff --git a/platform/msm_shared/avb/libavb/avb_slot_verify.c b/platform/msm_shared/avb/libavb/avb_slot_verify.c
index ac17e93..42ee9be 100644
--- a/platform/msm_shared/avb/libavb/avb_slot_verify.c
+++ b/platform/msm_shared/avb/libavb/avb_slot_verify.c
@@ -716,6 +716,11 @@
    */
   descriptors =
       avb_descriptor_get_all(vbmeta_buf, vbmeta_num_read, &num_descriptors);
+  if (descriptors == NULL) {
+    ret = AVB_SLOT_VERIFY_RESULT_ERROR_INVALID_METADATA;
+    goto out;
+  }
+
   for (n = 0; n < num_descriptors; n++) {
     AvbDescriptor desc;