virtio: fix use-after-free in unregister_virtio_device()
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: 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: virtio: fix use-after-free in unregister_virtio_device() device_unregister() is device_del() plus put_device(). When the caller holds no extra reference, that drops the last one and runs the release callback, which for several transports frees the memory the embedded struct virtio_device sits in. unregister_virtio_device() then calls virtio_debug_device_exit(), which reads dev->debugfs_dir out of the freed object. Affected transports are the ones whose release callback frees and whose remove path takes no reference: virtio_mmio, virtio_vdpa, virtio_uml, mlxbf-tmfifo and virtio_ccw. virtio_pci is unaffected because virtio_pci_remove() brackets the call with get_device() and put_device(). Remove the debugfs entries before the device can go away. They are only accessed through the protected debugfs interface, so debugfs_remove_recursive() waits for in-progress file operations before returning. Tearing them down while the device is still alive is therefore safe. Reproduced on User-Mode Linux with CONFIG_KASAN and CONFIG_VIRTIO_DEBUG by unbinding a virtio-uml device: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in virtio_debug_device_exit+0x36/0x4d Read of size 8 at addr 00000000616e0b10 by task init/1 __asan_report_load8_noabort virtio_debug_device_exit+0x36/0x4d unregister_virtio_device+0x48/0x75 virtio_uml_remove platform_remove device_release_driver_internal unbind_store Freed by task 1: kfree virtio_uml_release_dev device_release kobject_put put_device device_unregister With this applied, the report is gone and unbind is clean.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.111, 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 |
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-97996
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-gfg9-4r2g-565g
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-97996 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-97996 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-gfg9-4r2g-565g · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-97996 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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