{"id":"CVE-2026-68178","title":"misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmisc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open\n\nmisc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(),\nwhich pins file_operations::owner before repla…","severity":"high","cvss":7.8,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvssSource":"cna","vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","affected":["Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77","Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f","Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920","Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9","Linux 6.8"],"ssvc":{"exploitation":"none","automatable":"no","technicalImpact":"total","timestamp":"2026-10-16T15:45:28.962889Z"},"published":"2026-08-10","updated":"2026-10-16","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-16T15:53:02.163Z","source":"CVEORG","sourceUrl":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68178","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9"}],"tags":["cve.org"],"epss":0.00163,"epssPercentile":0.05186,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-16T17:24:46.848Z","slug":"CVE-2026-68178","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmisc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open\n\nmisc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(),\nwhich pins file_operations::owner before replacing the file's f_op.  The\nNSM misc device leaves nsm_dev_fops.owner unset, so opening /dev/nsm does\nnot take a module reference on the nsm driver.\n\nIf the driver is built as a module, an open file descriptor can therefore\nsurvive rmmod of the module that provides its ioctl callbacks.  A later\nioctl through that descriptor can call into unloaded module text.\n\nSet nsm_dev_fops.owner to THIS_MODULE so the misc core holds the module\nwhile any /dev/nsm file descriptor is open, matching the lifetime\nexpectation for the installed file operations.\n\n## Affected\n\n- `Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77`\n- `Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f`\n- `Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920`\n- `Linux >= b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 < 3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9`\n- `Linux 6.8`\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"twilight","depthScore":43,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":42.9,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}