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CVE-2026-72482
gpib: fix double decrement of descriptor_busy in command_ioctl()
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/gpib. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72482 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 | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | not affected | 6.12.113-1 | Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| 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
commit d1857f8296dc ("gpib: fix use-after-free in IO ioctl handlers") introduced a descriptor_busy reference counter to pin struct gpib_descriptor across IO ioctl operations. In command_ioctl(), the error path inside the loop decrements descriptor_busy and breaks, but execution then falls through to the unconditional decrement after the loop, underflowing the counter to -1. This re-enables the use-after-free that the original fix was meant to prevent: a concurrent close_dev_ioctl() sees descriptor_busy == 0 on an actively-used descriptor and frees it. Remove the early decrement from the error path. The post-loop decrement already handles all exit paths, matching the correct pattern used in read_ioctl() and write_ioctl().
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/gpib/common/gpib_os.c
- What this is
- GPIB DRIVERSMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/gpib/ · Maintained
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_GPIB|CONFIG_GPIB_COMMON' /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.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian does not build this code in 2 releases. The build rule could not be established for 2 releases, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm, trixie?
- forky, sidn
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- n
- not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
- Build switches
- CONFIG_GPIB, CONFIG_GPIB_COMMON
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
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
- 0.18%, higher than 6.8% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/gpib
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.18.22 | 6.18.40 | fdee9f207a48 |
| 7.0 | 7.1.5 | 8b5f1d295dda |
| 7.0 | 7.2 | c4faab452b3c |
| 6.19.12 | 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
- The bug is reached only through local ioctl on /dev/gpibN character devices; exploitation requires concurrent IBCMD (command_ioctl) and IBCLOSEDEV calls, not remote network traffic or physical GPIB bus manipulation.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- Once a GPIB board is online and accessible, an attacker controls both race participants by running a failing IBCMD ioctl in one thread and IBCLOSEDEV on the same handle in another; ibcmd errors (e.g., timeout or missing CIC) are reliably triggerable.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- The vulnerable IBCMD and IBCLOSEDEV ioctls perform no capability checks; any local user with access to an already-configured, online GPIB device node can open handles and race command/close operations typical of lab and factory test automation accounts.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim interaction is required beyond the attacker already having local access to the GPIB device; exploitation is performed entirely through attacker-controlled ioctl sequences without needing another user to mount, open, or approve actions.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- This is a kernel heap use-after-free within the GPIB driver reachable from local process ioctls and affects the same kernel security authority; it does not cross virtualization, IOMMU, or separate security-scope boundaries.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The erroneous early descriptor_busy decrement lets close_dev_ioctl kfree() the struct while command_ioctl still holds and dereferences it; freed kmalloc slab reuse can expose or help derive kernel memory contents per UAF scoring guidance.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- Post-free atomic writes to io_in_progress and descriptor_busy on the stale pointer can corrupt attacker-influenced reused heap objects, providing a plausible path to kernel data corruption, write primitives, or privilege escalation.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Dereferencing the freed gpib_descriptor during IBCMD completion (atomic_set, atomic_dec, wake_up) can cause kernel oops, BUG, or panic; use-after-free bugs are scored as high availability impact even before full exploitation.