Memory leak in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-97972
Published: September 28, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU152494
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 4.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-97972
CWE-ID: CWE-401
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to leak device-tree node references.
The vulnerability exists due to improper reference count management in macb_mii_init when registering MDIO buses. A local user can trigger successful probes to leak device-tree node references.
Overlay removal on a CM5 can report the leaked references after repeated bind cycles.
Affected software
Linux kernel
How to mitigate CVE-2026-97972
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3