CVE-2026-89741

Revert "media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()"

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: September 11, 2026 at 07:46 PM UTC
Updated: October 19, 2026 at 09:18 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()" This reverts commit 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a. The intentions of that patch were good, but it doesn't work. The idea is that if device_register fails, you have to do a put_device to let the ref counter release resources. However, the V4L2 API says that if video_register_device() fails, then you have to call video_device_release(), which kfree()s the video_device struct. But the put_device() will already have freed the struct, so you end up in a double-free scenario. There is not really a good way of fixing this without breaking video_register_device() into two parts, one that initializes everything, and one that does the actual device_register, and then converting all V4L2 drivers to this new model. That is a massive job, and it is very unlikely that device_register will fail. So rather than ending up in a double-free scenario, just revert this patch, and in that case we'll have a small memory leak. Which is a lot more robust.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

2429bb9fad88c8fa84c4956b0a21cf5afe5e92b72a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a4451412739ed33a49b34624299394ee575116d0c5.10.2395.15.1865.4.2956.1.1426.12.356.15.46.166.6.958b451a9a46f2bfc510e6d5c2492df91647586184ae7b143e05b36fc69d6571751855946cc45064c6b6be1f5633eae200af2527e9eeb7f51be5739b0fe5c8e62ae551e0ad2e15412aa0c57c2856d59677ee141706e701356dda41c6fed9ee18bf427c28e3
Vendor states this is fixed in 2ac009a65d2385e9f0799eaf9d9694a29153a161 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 3de14b4f681a1b3c6d375d98d9d37a55ebb85349 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 712ca1cf756de2557a116e0df55791bac0c9f99e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8027f82c0f5474ed72448e160ee9778051fa1f49 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8b998c171ed875e402e1fd1c5cd619e4ca05e9c1 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in aad08b5f67d2a8116e1a00bce2611c1513b10bce (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in ce792b94e03882108019ba996c1a7c4d4e09be2c (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in e7600f5cee5de14065f950807931d6e6d40fb2d7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.270 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.221 (unaffected)
Affected range stops below 5.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.188 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.109 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.16 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.50 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.157 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2.4 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3-rc1 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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