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CVE-2026-72042
ipmi: Fix user refcount underflow in event delivery
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/char. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72042 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | vulnerable | 6.12.113-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
ipmi_alloc_recv_msg(user) takes the temporary user reference owned by the receive message, and ipmi_free_recv_msg() drops it again. If event delivery fails after allocating receive messages for earlier users, handle_read_event_rsp() rolls those messages back with ipmi_free_recv_msg(). That rollback path still drops user->refcount explicitly after freeing each message. The extra put can free a user that remains linked on intf->users, so later event delivery may dereference a freed user or trip refcount_t's addition-on-zero warning when ipmi_alloc_recv_msg() tries to acquire another reference. Remove the stale explicit put and the now-dead user assignment. Keep the list_del() and ipmi_free_recv_msg() calls; they are the required rollback operations.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
- What this is
- IPMI SUBSYSTEMMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/char/ipmi/ · openipmi-developer@lists.sourceforge.net · Supported
- Kernel module
- ipmi_msghandler
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_IPMI_HANDLER /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w ipmi_msghandlerPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.
- bookwormMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp
- trixieMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, loong64/loong64, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switch
- CONFIG_IPMI_HANDLER
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-15 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.17%, higher than 6.3% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/char
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.18 | 6.18.40 | ddbb6e3dc9bb |
| 6.18 | 7.1.5 | 7be349d4fcc5 |
| 6.18 | 7.2 | 6aa9e61c4646 |
| 6.1.157 | 0 | 0 |
| 6.6.113 | 0 | 0 |
| 6.12.54 | 0 | 0 |
| 6.17.4 | 0 | 0 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:LAttack vector, local
- Exploitation requires local setup via /dev/ipmiN (open, IPMICTL_SET_GETS_EVENTS, message flooding); the refcount bug is in handle_read_event_rsp() during host-side BMC event processing, not via a remote packet path to the kernel.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- An attacker with IPMI device access controls both sides: multiple fds, gets_events registration, filling one user's outstanding-message limit to force EBUSY, and generating/waiting for BMC events via their own IPMI commands.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- ipmi_open/ipmi_create_user perform no capability() check; access is gated only by /dev/ipmiN DAC, and BMC-equipped servers often grant that node to a non-root management group (ipmi) for ipmitool/freeipmi.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim interaction is required; the attacker drives all setup and triggering through their own IPMI file descriptors and ioctls.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- This is a host-kernel heap use-after-free of struct ipmi_user within the same OS security authority, with no VM escape, IOMMU bypass, or sandbox boundary crossing.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Premature free_ipmi_user() leaves a dangling ipmi_user on intf->users; later iterations call kref_get and read handler pointers from freed slab memory, yielding arbitrary kernel read primitives per UAF guidance.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- Freed ipmi_user objects contain function pointers (handler->ipmi_recv_hndl); smi_work later invokes these on reclaimed memory, enabling heap spray and control-flow hijack for arbitrary kernel write/code execution.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The extra kref_put causes refcount underflow warnings and use-after-free of ipmi_user; subsequent event delivery dereferences freed memory and readily triggers kernel oops/panic under KASAN/poisoning.