{"id":"CVE-2026-97996","title":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nvirtio: fix use-after-free in unregister_virtio_device()\n\ndevice_unregister() is device_del() plus put_device()","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nvirtio: fix use-after-free in unregister_virtio_device()\n\ndevice_unregister() is device_del() plus put_device(). When the caller\nholds no extra reference, that drops th…","severity":"none","vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","affected":["Linux >= 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 < 951cad50cba89e736afdee4a730e0e52f9245c9b","Linux >= 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 < 77dbd10a701a30fdfea5c3bb7a29163128f9a9c7","Linux >= 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 < caf042153016d651b55d0fb4a63cdf7d0d23dee2","Linux >= 96a8326d69fffd7e8c2eb737dc060d8009a33b39 < 3f9a0fceb730f5107d52421ead5568eae25a0049","Linux 6.10"],"published":"2026-09-25","updated":"2026-09-25","sourceUpdated":"2026-09-25T11:17:27.880","source":"NVD","sourceUrl":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97996","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f9a0fceb730f5107d52421ead5568eae25a0049","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77dbd10a701a30fdfea5c3bb7a29163128f9a9c7","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/951cad50cba89e736afdee4a730e0e52f9245c9b","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/caf042153016d651b55d0fb4a63cdf7d0d23dee2","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"}],"tags":["nvd","cve.org"],"ingestedAt":"2026-09-25T11:06:38.863Z","slug":"CVE-2026-97996","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nvirtio: fix use-after-free in unregister_virtio_device()\n\ndevice_unregister() is device_del() plus put_device(). When the caller\nholds no extra reference, that drops the last one and runs the release\ncallback, which for several transports frees the memory the embedded\nstruct virtio_device sits in. unregister_virtio_device() then calls\nvirtio_debug_device_exit(), which reads dev->debugfs_dir out of the freed\nobject.\n\nAffected transports are the ones whose release callback frees and whose\nremove path takes no reference: virtio_mmio, virtio_vdpa, virtio_uml,\nmlxbf-tmfifo and virtio_ccw. virtio_pci is unaffected because\nvirtio_pci_remove() brackets the call with get_device() and put_device().\n\nRemove the debugfs entries before the device can go away. They are only\naccessed through the protected debugfs interface, so\ndebugfs_remove_recursive() waits for in-progress file operations before\nreturning. Tearing them down while the device is still alive is therefore\nsafe.\n\nReproduced on User-Mode Linux with CONFIG_KASAN and CONFIG_VIRTIO_DEBUG\nby unbinding a virtio-uml device:\n\n  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in virtio_debug_device_exit+0x36/0x4d\n  Read of size 8 at addr 00000000616e0b10 by task init/1\n   __asan_report_load8_noabort\n   virtio_debug_device_exit+0x36/0x4d\n   unregister_virtio_device+0x48/0x75\n   virtio_uml_remove\n   platform_remove\n   device_release_driver_internal\n   unbind_store\n\n  Freed by task 1:\n   kfree\n   virtio_uml_release_dev\n   device_release\n   kobject_put\n   put_device\n   device_unregister\n\nWith this applied, the report is gone and unbind is clean.\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":3,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":2.8,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}