tpm: Make the TPM character devices non-seekable
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tpm: Make the TPM character devices non-seekable The TPM character devices expose a sequential command/response interface, but their open handlers leave FMODE_PREAD and FMODE_PWRITE enabled. After a command leaves a response pending, pread(fd, buf, 16, 0x1400) passes 0x1400 as *off to tpm_common_read(). The transfer length is bounded by response_length, but the offset is used unchecked when forming data_buffer + *off. A sufficiently large offset therefore causes an out-of-bounds heap read through copy_to_user() and, if the copy succeeds, an out-of-bounds zero-write through the following memset(). Positional I/O does not provide coherent semantics for this interface. An arbitrary pread offset cannot represent how much of a response has been consumed sequentially. The write callback always stores a command at the start of data_buffer, while pwrite() does not update file->f_pos and can leave the sequential read cursor stale. Call nonseekable_open() from both open handlers. This removes FMODE_PREAD and FMODE_PWRITE, causing positional reads and writes to fail with -ESPIPE before reaching the TPM callbacks, and explicitly marks the files non-seekable. Normal read() and write() continue to use the existing sequential f_pos cursor, leaving the response state machine unchanged. Tested on Linux 6.12 with KASAN and a swtpm TPM2 device: - sequential partial reads returned the complete response - pread() and preadv() with offset 0x1400 returned -ESPIPE - pwrite() and pwritev() with offset zero returned -ESPIPE - the pending response remained intact after the rejected operations - a subsequent normal command/response cycle completed normally - no KASAN report was produced.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 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 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-72135
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mgw8-pg67-5pw5
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed0ffc2c016629e40ba041ed0424a772d8b02e2c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/232dcf908eb7eb9d8046a9597975caf44270966e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dda695fab5e21f923d29e8cb01df256468ddfbd1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9c513dabd4540f811585a2087f23069767a284da
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/21a13f932972bc9836f58c44fcd47c62abdecd95
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ada4b9a5087ea7f30dd8e4c6411a4fb6547eb1ed
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/947b773caaa548672184df025271b29bdc80b0f1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f20d61c22bcaf172d6790b6500e3838e532e71c8
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Sources
- CVE-2026-72135 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-72135 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-mgw8-pg67-5pw5 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-72135 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences