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CVE-2026-72240 (GCVE-0-2026-72240)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-15 05:54 – Updated: 2026-08-17 05:10
VLAI
Title
mfd: sm501: Fix reference leak on failed device registration
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mfd: sm501: Fix reference leak on failed device registration When platform_device_register() fails in sm501_register_device(), the embedded struct device in pdev has already been initialized by device_initialize(), but the failure path only reports the error and returns without dropping the device reference for the current platform device: sm501_register_device() -> platform_device_register(pdev) -> device_initialize(&pdev->dev) -> setup_pdev_dma_masks(pdev) -> platform_device_add(pdev) This leads to a reference leak when platform_device_register() fails. Fix this by calling platform_device_put() before returning the error. The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and confirmed by manual review.
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < bbb1ecaed4ed7680e63d3a0f143f03de32de5d6e (git)
Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < e2dac91380a10e9e8d5883fb73ce9d9b390a629c (git)
Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < 0baf9d43a7b7b43df2900bd8656e75b725028b6e (git)
Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < a3e340d506c1036a747fb0972aebf1063f7ef30e (git)
Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < 760a1029692f1d788dc11aa636a3bf432e58b240 (git)
Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < 16a42c88c4667fa0bd944e438a667e059551f1f1 (git)
Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < 2ff8156fd500d54c61430b6834137fd0a07047ce (git)
Affected: b6d6454fdb66f3829af8b92ab06825b6060fdf7e , < 8c2f0b42fc252e1bf1c7746447091a468e784ca1 (git)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Linux Linux Affected: 2.6.21
Unaffected: 0 , < 2.6.21 (semver)
Unaffected: 5.10.261 , ≤ 5.10.* (semver)
Unaffected: 5.15.212 , ≤ 5.15.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.1.178 , ≤ 6.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.6.145 , ≤ 6.6.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.12.97 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.40 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1.5 , ≤ 7.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
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      "cpeApplicability": [
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmfd: sm501: Fix reference leak on failed device registration\n\nWhen platform_device_register() fails in sm501_register_device(), the\nembedded struct device in pdev has already been initialized by\ndevice_initialize(), but the failure path only reports the error and\nreturns without dropping the device reference for the current platform\ndevice:\n\n  sm501_register_device()\n    -\u003e platform_device_register(pdev)\n       -\u003e device_initialize(\u0026pdev-\u003edev)\n       -\u003e setup_pdev_dma_masks(pdev)\n       -\u003e platform_device_add(pdev)\n\nThis leads to a reference leak when platform_device_register() fails.\nFix this by calling platform_device_put() before returning the error.\n\nThe issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and\nconfirmed by manual review."
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        "shortName": "Linux"
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    "datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:54:28.905Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-09T03:40:39.914Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:10:58.219Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Low",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-19T05:26:54+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72240",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72240",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_affected": "274",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: mfd: sm501: Fix reference leak on failed device registration",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72240.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.