CVE-2026-89741

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()" This reverts commit 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a. The intentions of that patch were good, but it doesn't work. The idea is that if device_register fails, you have to do a put_device to let the ref counter release resources. However, the V4L2 API says that if video_register_device() fails, then you have to call video_device_release(), which kfree()s the video_device struct. But the put_device() will already have freed the struct, so you end up in a double-free scenario. There is not really a good way of fixing this without breaking video_register_device() into two parts, one that initializes everything, and one that does the actual device_register, and then converting all V4L2 drivers to this new model. That is a massive job, and it is very unlikely that device_register will fail. So rather than ending up in a double-free scenario, just revert this patch, and in that case we'll have a small memory leak. Which is a lot more robust.

Severity

HIGH

CVSS score

7.8 (v3.1)

Vulnerability status

Received

Source identifier

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Published

2026-09-11 20:20:04.720000

Last modified

2026-10-19 09:18:16.883000

View original CVE JSON

{
  "id": "CVE-2026-89741",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
  "published": "2026-09-11T20:20:04.720",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-19T09:18:16.883",
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nRevert \"media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()\"\n\nThis reverts commit 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a.\n\nThe intentions of that patch were good, but it doesn't work.\n\nThe idea is that if device_register fails, you have to do a put_device\nto let the ref counter release resources.\n\nHowever, the V4L2 API says that if video_register_device() fails, then\nyou have to call video_device_release(), which kfree()s the video_device\nstruct.\n\nBut the put_device() will already have freed the struct, so you end\nup in a double-free scenario.\n\nThere is not really a good way of fixing this without breaking\nvideo_register_device() into two parts, one that initializes everything,\nand one that does the actual device_register, and then converting all\nV4L2 drivers to this new model.\n\nThat is a massive job, and it is very unlikely that device_register\nwill fail.\n\nSo rather than ending up in a double-free scenario, just revert this\npatch, and in that case we'll have a small memory leak. Which is a lot\nmore robust."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-dev.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "e5c8e62ae551e0ad2e15412aa0c57c2856d59677",
              "lessThan": "8b998c171ed875e402e1fd1c5cd619e4ca05e9c1",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "8b451a9a46f2bfc510e6d5c2492df91647586184",
              "lessThan": "3de14b4f681a1b3c6d375d98d9d37a55ebb85349",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "b6be1f5633eae200af2527e9eeb7f51be5739b0f",
              "lessThan": "8027f82c0f5474ed72448e160ee9778051fa1f49",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "ae7b143e05b36fc69d6571751855946cc45064c6",
              "lessThan": "2ac009a65d2385e9f0799eaf9d9694a29153a161",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "2429bb9fad88c8fa84c4956b0a21cf5afe5e92b7",
              "lessThan": "712ca1cf756de2557a116e0df55791bac0c9f99e",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a",
              "lessThan": "aad08b5f67d2a8116e1a00bce2611c1513b10bce",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a",
              "lessThan": "ce792b94e03882108019ba996c1a7c4d4e09be2c",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
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              "lessThan": "e7600f5cee5de14065f950807931d6e6d40fb2d7",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "ee141706e701356dda41c6fed9ee18bf427c28e3",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "4451412739ed33a49b34624299394ee575116d0c",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "5.10.239",
              "lessThan": "5.10.270",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "5.15.186",
              "lessThan": "5.15.221",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.1.142",
              "lessThan": "6.1.188",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.6.95",
              "lessThan": "6.6.157",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.12.35",
              "lessThan": "6.12.109",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "5.4.295",
              "lessThan": "5.5",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.15.4",
              "lessThan": "6.16",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-dev.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "6.16",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "6.16",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "5.10.270",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.10.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "5.15.221",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.1.188",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.6.157",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.12.109",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.18.50",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.2.4",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.3",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "status": "unaffected"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "baseScore": 7.8,
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
        "impactScore": 5.9
      }
    ]
  },
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ac009a65d2385e9f0799eaf9d9694a29153a161",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3de14b4f681a1b3c6d375d98d9d37a55ebb85349",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/712ca1cf756de2557a116e0df55791bac0c9f99e",
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    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8027f82c0f5474ed72448e160ee9778051fa1f49",
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    }
  ]
}