Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-72489

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: nvec: fix use-after-free in nvec_rx_completed() In nvec_rx_completed(), when an incomplete RX transfer is detected, nvec_msg_free() is called to return the message back to the pool by clearing its 'used' atomic flag. Immediately after this, the code accesses nvec->rx->data[0] to check the message type. Since nvec_msg_free() marks the pool slot as available via atomic_set(), any concurrent or subsequent call to nvec_msg_alloc() could claim that same slot and overwrite its data[] array. Reading nvec->rx->data[0] after freeing the message is therefore a use-after-free. Fix this by saving the message type byte before calling nvec_msg_free(), then using the saved value for the battery quirk check.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (7.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 8th percentile — 7.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-72489: held from 0.001 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 7.2-rc1, 6.6.145, 7.2

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72489?
CVE-2026-72489 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 8.4/10. Published 2026-08-15.
How severe is CVE-2026-72489?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.4 out of 10.