GHSA-VFM9-VF3R-MGWG
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-25 12:31 – Updated: 2026-09-08 15:31In 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.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-64376"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-07-25T10:17:20Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nfirmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register()\n\nfirmware_upload_register()\n -\u003e fw_create_instance()\n -\u003e device_initialize()\n\nAfter fw_create_instance() succeeds, the lifetime of the embedded struct\ndevice is expected to be managed through the device core reference\ncounting, since fw_create_instance() has already called\ndevice_initialize().\n\nIn firmware_upload_register(), if alloc_lookup_fw_priv() fails after\nfw_create_instance() succeeds, the code reaches free_fw_sysfs and frees\nfw_sysfs directly instead of releasing the device reference with\nput_device(). This may leave the reference count of the embedded struct\ndevice unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak.\n\nThe issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and\nconfirmed by manual review. Fix this by using put_device(fw_dev) in the\nfailure path and letting fw_dev_release() handle the final cleanup,\ninstead of freeing the instance directly from the error path.",
"id": "GHSA-vfm9-vf3r-mgwg",
"modified": "2026-09-08T15:31:27Z",
"published": "2026-07-25T12:31:33Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64376"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15432f19562fdb9199cce6d9fc24db12c71ed574"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2619b47a0c8114eef980a56ade7e3ef4b58eb384"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46d403da376a8b7c1187193294953816e1a8d7fe"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/517676ec7dfca064e08f94007a4abd21969de0a0"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/896df22ee57648b0c505bd76ddbc6b2341834696"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92f41769e5fd16bcd9ba97500d0517332e0a5b45"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
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