CVE-2026-97972

net: macb: put the "mdio" child node reference on success

N/A
Published: September 25, 2026 at 10:23 AM UTC
Updated: October 19, 2026 at 10:17 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
N/A
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: macb: put the "mdio" child node reference on success macb_mii_init() holds the reference returned by of_get_child_by_name() for macb_mdiobus_register() and drops it only on the error paths, so every successful probe leaks a node reference. On a CM5, overlay removal after four bind cycles reports OF: ERROR: memory leak, expected refcount 1 instead of 5 Drop the reference after registration, where __mdiobus_register() has already taken its own for the lifetime of the bus.

Affected

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

6.138a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8
Vendor states this is fixed in 382a373d9ea7a6ac4de9c022385b6217f65ae3cc (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5fba30080d298edb742396073372385c961578d3 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7d60dc7ff85b73a2119d582ca2d4456b30960380 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.13 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.53 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2.7 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3-rc3 (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.

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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