---
id: CVE-2026-97946
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  x86/amd_node: Fix PCI device reference counting in amd_smn_init()

  The local "root" pointer is a temporary variable used during the device
  search
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  x86/amd_node: Fix PCI device reference counting in amd_smn_init()

  The local "root" pointer is a temporary variable used during the device
  search. Therefore, refcount r…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 0a4b61d9c2e496b5f0a10e29e355a1465c8738bb <
    84e3a71d11d8593c127b468d75b2653af5074f81
  - >-
    Linux >= 0a4b61d9c2e496b5f0a10e29e355a1465c8738bb <
    aa2a4277ad42fd8f918c6dc652473946a253f7b0
  - >-
    Linux >= 0a4b61d9c2e496b5f0a10e29e355a1465c8738bb <
    27600805e62f800bacf990354632eae4e487d34c
  - Linux c4ad899a33198ab6335732c769835d035e66894a
  - Linux >= 6.17.8 < 6.18
  - Linux 6.18
published: '2026-09-25'
updated: '2026-09-25'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-25T11:17:22.110'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97946'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/27600805e62f800bacf990354632eae4e487d34c'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84e3a71d11d8593c127b468d75b2653af5074f81'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa2a4277ad42fd8f918c6dc652473946a253f7b0'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-25T11:06:38.880Z'
---

## Overview

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

x86/amd_node: Fix PCI device reference counting in amd_smn_init()

The local "root" pointer is a temporary variable used during the device
search. Therefore, refcount related to the search iterators should be cleaned
up after the search is complete.

Use the __free() cleanup macro to ensure the refcount is decremented when the
temporary pointer goes out of scope.

Additionally, increment the refcount when caching a root pointer. This ensures
the in-use refcount is separate from the temporary search refcounting.

Finally, drop the redundant "root = NULL" before the second search loop. The
pci_get_class() iterator always decrements the refcount of its "from"
argument, so the first loop can only fall through with "root" already NULL.

## Remediation

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