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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Linux

CVE-2026-97996: virtio: fix use-after-free in unregister_virtio_device()

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 0/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.16% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Fixed version: Linux Linux 3f9a0fceb730f5107d52421ead5568eae25a0049, 77dbd10a701a30fdfea5c3bb7a29163128f9a9c7, 951cad50cba89e736afdee4a730e0e52f9245c9b.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Linux Linux 3f9a0fceb730f5107d52421ead5568eae25a0049, 77dbd10a701a30fdfea5c3bb7a29163128f9a9c7, 951cad50cba89e736afdee4a730e0e52f9245c9b or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

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.

—No exploit Fix available
Published
Sep 25, 2026
Updated
Oct 19, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 6th percentile
CWE
—

Report tools

JSON

Action score

0

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
0 / 40 · —
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Linux). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Linux Linux

    • 6.10affected
    • 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 and later · before 951cad50cba89e736afdee4a730e0e52f9245c9baffected · git
    • 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 and later · before 77dbd10a701a30fdfea5c3bb7a29163128f9a9c7affected · git
    • 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 and later · before caf042153016d651b55d0fb4a63cdf7d0d23dee2affected · git
    • 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 and later · before 3f9a0fceb730f5107d52421ead5568eae25a0049affected · git
    • before 6.10not affected · semver
    • 6.12.111 and later · up to and including 6.12.*not affected · semver
    • 6.18.53 and later · up to and including 6.18.*not affected · semver
    • 7.2.7 and later · up to and including 7.2.*not affected · semver
    • 7.3 and laternot affected · original_commit_for_fix

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12linux-6.12before 6.12.111-1~deb12u16.12.111-1~deb12u1
Debian:13linuxbefore 6.12.111-16.12.111-1
Debian:14linuxbefore 7.2.7-17.2.7-1

Same product

linux: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-74705udp: fix potential use-after-free in tunnel segmentation
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74612veth: fix skb length accounting after XDP frag adjustment
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74475vxlan: use neigh_ha_snapshot() in route_shortcircuit()
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-97994Sep 25, 2026 · vhost/vdpa: reject VRING_NUM larger than device max
    0Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-97995Sep 25, 2026 · virtio_console: do not free control-out buffers on remove
    0Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-97997Sep 25, 2026 · virtio_ring: fix stale descriptor flags after a failed packed add
    0Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Linux Linux3f9a0fceb730f5107d52421ead5568eae25a0049Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux77dbd10a701a30fdfea5c3bb7a29163128f9a9c7Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linux951cad50cba89e736afdee4a730e0e52f9245c9bVendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxcaf042153016d651b55d0fb4a63cdf7d0d23dee2Vendor (CNA)
debian:linux6.12.111-1 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)
debian:linux-6.126.12.111-1~deb12u1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Technical details

No CVSS vector for this record, so attack conditions can't be derived.

Weakness class (CWE)

—

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records