CVE-2026-64376firmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register()
- 5.5MediumCVSS base score
- 0.12%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 98% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
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.
Timeline
ID reserved
By Linux
- 6 days later
· 6 days later
Published
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.12% · top 98% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.5.
Affected products
- affected 97730bbb242cde22b7140acd202ffd88823886c9 – < 517676ec7dfca064e08f94007a4abd21969de0a0
- affected 97730bbb242cde22b7140acd202ffd88823886c9 – < 46d403da376a8b7c1187193294953816e1a8d7fe
- affected 97730bbb242cde22b7140acd202ffd88823886c9 – < 2619b47a0c8114eef980a56ade7e3ef4b58eb384
- affected 97730bbb242cde22b7140acd202ffd88823886c9 – < 92f41769e5fd16bcd9ba97500d0517332e0a5b45
- affected 97730bbb242cde22b7140acd202ffd88823886c9 – < 15432f19562fdb9199cce6d9fc24db12c71ed574
- affected 97730bbb242cde22b7140acd202ffd88823886c9 – < 896df22ee57648b0c505bd76ddbc6b2341834696
- affected 5.19
- unaffected < 5.19
- unaffected 6.1.178 – ≤ 6.1.*
- unaffected 6.6.145 – ≤ 6.6.*
- unaffected 6.12.96 – ≤ 6.12.*
- unaffected 6.18.39 – ≤ 6.18.*
- unaffected 7.1.4 – ≤ 7.1.*
- unaffected 7.2 – ≤ *
References
References6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/517676ec7dfca064e08f94007a4abd21969de0a0 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46d403da376a8b7c1187193294953816e1a8d7fe (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2619b47a0c8114eef980a56ade7e3ef4b58eb384 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92f41769e5fd16bcd9ba97500d0517332e0a5b45 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15432f19562fdb9199cce6d9fc24db12c71ed574 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/896df22ee57648b0c505bd76ddbc6b2341834696 (opens in a new tab)
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-48920 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-64376)Record last updated .