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Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-64376 · published 25 July 2026

CVE-2026-64376: Linux kernel vulnerability

Linux · Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: firmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register() firmware_upload_register() -> fw_create_instance() -> device_initialize() After fw_create_instance() succeeds, the lifetime of the embedded struct device is expected to be managed through the device core reference counting, since fw_create_instance() has already called device_initialize(). In firmware_upload_register(), if alloc_lookup_fw_priv() fails after fw_create_instance() succeeds, the code reaches free_fw_sysfs and frees fw_sysfs directly instead of releasing the device reference with put_device(). This may leave the reference count of the embedded struct device unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak. The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and confirmed by manual review. Fix this by using put_device(fw_dev) in the failure path and letting fw_dev_release() handle the final cleanup, instead of freeing the instance directly from the error path.

5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium EPSS 0.12% · top 98.2%
5.5CVSS 3.1 base score
0.12%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
6References
8 Sep 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: firmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register() firmware_upload_register() -> fw_create_instance() -> device_initialize() After fw_create_instance() succeeds, the lifetime of the embedded struct device is expected to be managed through the device core reference counting, since fw_create_instance() has already called device_initialize(). In firmware_upload_register(), if alloc_lookup_fw_priv() fails after fw_create_instance() succeeds, the code reaches free_fw_sysfs and frees fw_sysfs directly instead of releasing the device reference with put_device(). This may leave the reference count of the embedded struct device unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak. The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and confirmed by manual review. Fix this by using put_device(fw_dev) in the failure path and letting fw_dev_release() handle the final cleanup, instead of freeing the instance directly from the error path.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15432f19562fdb9199cce6d9fc24db12c71ed574 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2619b47a0c8114eef980a56ade7e3ef4b58eb384 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46d403da376a8b7c1187193294953816e1a8d7fe Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/517676ec7dfca064e08f94007a4abd21969de0a0 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/896df22ee57648b0c505bd76ddbc6b2341834696 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92f41769e5fd16bcd9ba97500d0517332e0a5b45 Patch

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-64376), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.