Bluetooth: hci_sysfs: Fix NULL pointer dereference in device_del()
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 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: Bluetooth: hci_sysfs: Fix NULL pointer dereference in device_del() A NULL pointer dereference in klist_put() occurs when a child device (such as a BNEP network device in bnep_session) is concurrently being unregistered while hci_conn_del_sysfs() reparents child devices. This is caused by a race condition between hci_conn_del_sysfs() and concurrent child device unregistration (e.g. bnep_session calling unregister_netdev()). During device unregistration, device_del() snapshots a non-NULL parent pointer. Concurrently, hci_conn_del_sysfs() finds the child device using device_find_any_child() and calls device_move() to reparent it to NULL, which removes the node from its parent's klist and clears knode_parent. Subsequently, device_del() calls klist_del(&dev->p->knode_parent) using the stale parent snapshot, causing klist_put() to dereference knode_klist(n)->put on an already removed node, resulting in a NULL pointer dereference. This race was introduced by commit 27aabf27fd01 ("Bluetooth: fix use-after-free in device_for_each_child()"), which replaced device_find_child(..., __match_tty) with device_find_any_child() in hci_conn_del_sysfs(). That change was intended to avoid a use-after-free where conn->dev outlived its parent hdev->dev when child devices held references to conn->dev, because conn->dev only held a reference to hdev->dev while registered in sysfs. Fix the issue properly by taking an explicit reference to the parent device with get_device(&hdev->dev) in hci_conn_init_sysfs() and dropping it with put_device(parent) in bt_link_release() when the conn device is freed. This ensures that hdev->dev remains valid for the entire lifecycle of conn->dev, resolving the underlying use-after-free. With the parent reference held properly, restore the __match_tty filter in hci_conn_del_sysfs() so that device_move() is only invoked on persistent RFCOMM TTY devices as originally intended, eliminating the race condition with unregistering network devices.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.6.64 to before 6.6.160; 6.12.2 to before 6.12.114; 5.4.297 to before 5.5; 5.10.231 to before 5.11; 5.15.174 to before 5.16; 6.1.120 to before 6.2; 6.11.11 to before 6.12 | 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 5.5, 5.11, 5.16, 6.2, 6.12 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 6.13 and later | 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.6.64 to before 6.6.160; 6.12.2 to before 6.12.114; 5.4.297 to before 5.5; 5.10.231 to before 5.11; 5.15.174 to before 5.16; 6.1.120 to before 6.2; 6.11.11 to before 6.12 Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 5.5, 5.11, 5.16, 6.2, 6.12 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.13 and later Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 5.5, 5.11, 5.16, 6.2, 6.12
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3
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 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-97975
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-2vfm-8xc8-7w2c
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@55b76500546e5f2e7fdd7ae7283530b620de6e61, Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] +1 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 2 new references · CNA
- 2026-10-23 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/55b76500546e5f2e7fdd7ae7283530b620de6e61
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/66cc55b69928b742d24b4c5b66d195ae96900e48
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eeabdb25c3209569367e99a85ca9a503b64a646d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e9ece97b8e716890793de261574b8efef7d8702
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b851b09b392da68bd715601f10a5adb2d8d19b8
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Sources
- CVE-2026-97975 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-97975 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-2vfm-8xc8-7w2c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-97975 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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