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CVE-2026-72179: riscv: cacheinfo: Fix node reference leak in populate_cache_leaves

• Severity: unknown
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-08-15 · updated 2026-08-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: cacheinfo: Fix node reference leak in populate_cache_leaves Currently, the while loop drops the reference to prev in each iteration. If the loop terminates early due to a break, the final of_node_put(np) correctly drops the reference to the current node. However, if the loop terminates naturally because np == NULL, calling of_node_put(np) is a no-op. This leaves the last valid node stored in prev without its reference dropped, resulting in a node reference leak. Fix this by changing the final `of_node_put(np)` to `of_node_put(prev)`.

Affected products

• Linux kernel: 5.0 — fixed in 7.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 7.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2560c97f63bb99b26d9f19b23a4f66ea24c9dc14
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36e4843fe39ea2f17f4de6d59fba26271916c184
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/51afb7da697b698996351740b4f39fb05ce2afd4
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/880ac50b0bfae06d7ab5f1843253adfb86aa173a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf4a195f063b0a0805c1417f6aad1dd32ea48f0f
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f322955d9a1c344ed943752f05aacea7bc22e025

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