---
id: CVE-2026-68216
title: 'media: pwc: Return queued buffers on start_streaming() failure'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  media: pwc: Return queued buffers on start_streaming() failure

  The vb2 framework hands buffers to the driver via buf_queue() before
  calling start_streaming().  If star…
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 >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    d552852bf76b7dfb35b4593fc874d8dd2f1b1bf3
  - >-
    Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    0362ae30b61b3053ee3095c1b8f179197ec4f539
  - >-
    Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    fa78e590852751d3ad32f33f6b4e210fe6ccbe9b
  - >-
    Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    f2f9fcacd81953dde6cb86312ab13ca13e689664
  - >-
    Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    5d7cc2634c3843a1414a0f6407aa17f1f91dee60
  - >-
    Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    cb16b79a2be2cec9c3ebe4147490817c4d8b1de3
  - >-
    Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    a4f8f629983f643333e49df90557805469bcbb25
  - >-
    Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 <
    975b2ee20e569d47821e4f6c9761b4664d48a6a4
  - Linux 3.5
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-10-16T15:45:58.459498Z'
published: '2026-08-10'
updated: '2026-10-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-16T15:53:04.043Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68216'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d552852bf76b7dfb35b4593fc874d8dd2f1b1bf3'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0362ae30b61b3053ee3095c1b8f179197ec4f539'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fa78e590852751d3ad32f33f6b4e210fe6ccbe9b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2f9fcacd81953dde6cb86312ab13ca13e689664'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5d7cc2634c3843a1414a0f6407aa17f1f91dee60'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb16b79a2be2cec9c3ebe4147490817c4d8b1de3'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a4f8f629983f643333e49df90557805469bcbb25'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/975b2ee20e569d47821e4f6c9761b4664d48a6a4'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00176
epssPercentile: 0.06681
ingestedAt: '2026-10-16T17:24:46.852Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

media: pwc: Return queued buffers on start_streaming() failure

The vb2 framework hands buffers to the driver via buf_queue() before
calling start_streaming().  If start_streaming() returns an error
without first returning those buffers via vb2_buffer_done(),
vb2_start_streaming() fires WARN_ON(owned_by_drv_count) and the queued
buffers leak.

pwc's start_streaming() had two early returns that hit this trap:
-ENODEV when the USB device was already disconnected, and -ERESTARTSYS
when mutex_lock_interruptible() was interrupted by a signal.  Call the
existing pwc_cleanup_queued_bufs() helper with VB2_BUF_STATE_QUEUED
before returning (matching the state already used by the
pwc_isoc_init() error path in the same function).

This mirrors the uvcvideo fix in commit 4cf3b6fd54eb ("media: uvcvideo:
Return queued buffers on start_streaming() failure").

## Affected

- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < d552852bf76b7dfb35b4593fc874d8dd2f1b1bf3`
- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < 0362ae30b61b3053ee3095c1b8f179197ec4f539`
- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < fa78e590852751d3ad32f33f6b4e210fe6ccbe9b`
- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < f2f9fcacd81953dde6cb86312ab13ca13e689664`
- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < 5d7cc2634c3843a1414a0f6407aa17f1f91dee60`
- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < cb16b79a2be2cec9c3ebe4147490817c4d8b1de3`
- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < a4f8f629983f643333e49df90557805469bcbb25`
- `Linux >= ceede9fa8939e40ad0ddb4ad1355f45c6f1d3478 < 975b2ee20e569d47821e4f6c9761b4664d48a6a4`
- `Linux 3.5`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.