CVE-2026-98397: platform/x86: x86-android-tablets: hold device reference for secondary fwnode teardown

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: 2026-10-14 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: platform/x86: x86-android-tablets: hold device reference for secondary fwnode teardown In gpio_secondary_fwnode_init(), acpi_bus_find_device_by_name() returns a device reference, but the local dev variable is declared with __free(put_device), dropping the reference at the end of each iteration. Meanwhile, devm_add_action_or_reset() saves the dev pointer for gpio_secondary_unset() without incrementing its reference count, which could lead to a use-after-free during driver teardown if the device is released in the interim. Acquire an explicit device reference with get_device() when registering the devres action, and drop it with put_device() inside gpio_secondary_unset().

Affected products

Linux kernel: 7.2 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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