mtd: fix double free and WARN_ON in add_mtd_device() error paths
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mtd: fix double free and WARN_ON in add_mtd_device() error paths When device_register() or mtd_nvmem_add() fails inside add_mtd_device() for a partition, the error handling triggers mtd_release() via put_device() or device_unregister(). mtd_release() calls release_mtd_partition() which frees the mtd_info structure. However, callers such as mtd_add_partition() and add_mtd_partitions() also call free_partition() in their error paths, resulting in a double free. Additionally, release_mtd_partition() hits WARN_ON(!list_empty( &mtd->part.node)) because the partition node is still linked in the parent's partitions list when the release callback fires from the add_mtd_device() error path. Fix this by overriding dev->type and dev->release before put_device() in the error paths, so that device_release() invokes a no-op function instead of mtd_release(). For the mtd_nvmem_add() failure case, device_unregister() is replaced with device_del() to separate the device removal from the final kobject reference drop, allowing the override to take effect before put_device() is called. The callers' error paths (list_del + free_partition) remain the sole owners of mtd_info lifetime on add_mtd_device() failure, which is the expected contract. The normal partition teardown path is not affected: del_mtd_device() goes through kref_put() -> mtd_device_release() -> device_unregister() with dev->type still set to &mtd_devtype, so mtd_release() -> release_mtd_partition() continues to work correctly for the regular removal case.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-68416
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-qpvq-4872-pr63
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@1dfe90daee6080b088b65620ff690a56f59ddea2, Linux/Linux@b1f78dc4a6869e30ff64345a5d3e7da1b6da0061 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 2 new references · CNA
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b1f78dc4a6869e30ff64345a5d3e7da1b6da0061
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1dfe90daee6080b088b65620ff690a56f59ddea2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ffe21a3545b439e7b11578a701c22a847c149561
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e1e96aca1bdf391e2f49531c270ffc134e5b49a5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f98ae09c727dcf34f745c875661c64b642e4abfa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/820f983d641937a787e841ee4b93501f69f5683e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9d4af746af8ce27eefc2338b2feaa1e01f28b6c3
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Sources
- CVE-2026-68416 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-68416 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-qpvq-4872-pr63 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-68416 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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