Improper update of reference count in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-99075

 

Improper update of reference count in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-99075

Published: October 23, 2026


Vulnerability identifier: #VU157428
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-2026-99075
CWE-ID: CWE-911
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability: No public exploit available

Vulnerability details

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause kernel memory to remain allocated unnecessarily, potentially leading to a denial of service through resource exhaustion.

The vulnerability exists due to improper reference count update handling in the Rust Binder Node::cancel() and NodeWrapper::cancel() methods when a thread exits through BINDER_THREAD_EXIT with a pending node reference count increment. A local user can trigger thread exit while such an update is pending to cause the update to be discarded, leaving node delivery and count states desynchronized and preventing affected nodes from being freed after all external references are dropped.


Affected software

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gke (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

How to mitigate CVE-2026-99075

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-43.43
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-43.43.1
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.18
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.19
linux-azure (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1020.21
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1023.23
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1018.18
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1018.18
linux-gke (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1010.11
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1019.19
linux-aws-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1

External References

Related Security Bulletins