CVE-2026-64376: firmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register()

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-07-25 · updated 2026-09-08

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: firmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register() firmware_upload_register() -> fw_create_instance() -> device_initialize() After fw_create_instance() succeeds, the lifetime of the embedded struct device is expected to be managed through the device core reference counting, since fw_create_instance() has already called device_initialize(). In firmware_upload_register(), if alloc_lookup_fw_priv() fails after fw_create_instance() succeeds, the code reaches free_fw_sysfs and frees fw_sysfs directly instead of releasing the device reference with put_device(). This may leave the reference count of the embedded struct device unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak. The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and confirmed by manual review. Fix this by using put_device(fw_dev) in the failure path and letting fw_dev_release() handle the final cleanup, instead of freeing the instance directly from the error path.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.19 before 6.1.178; from 6.2 before 6.6.145; from 6.7 before 6.12.96; from 6.13 before 6.18.39; from 6.19 before 7.1.4 — fixed in 6.1.178, 6.12.96, 6.18.39, 6.6.145, 7.1.4

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.1.178, 6.12.96, 6.18.39, 6.6.145. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

Get alerted when CVE-2026-64376 or the next vulnerability affects your stack