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CVE-2026-72486
mailbox: mtk-adsp: fix UAF during device teardown
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/mailbox. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72486 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 | fixed | 6.1.180-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.1.180-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.100-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.100-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| 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
When the SOF audio driver fails to initialize (e.g. firmware boot timeout), its devres unwind frees the snd_sof_dev object that the mailbox client (mtk-adsp-ipc) reaches via chan->cl->rx_callback. The mtk-adsp-mailbox shutdown clears the mailbox command registers but leaves the IRQ line unmasked, so a late interrupt can still queue a threaded handler after mbox_free_channel() had cleared chan->cl, and mbox_chan_received_data() would then trigger UAF: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in sof_ipc3_validate_fw_version sof_ipc3_validate_fw_version sof_ipc3_do_rx_work sof_ipc3_rx_msg mt8196_dsp_handle_request mtk_adsp_ipc_recv mbox_chan_received_data mtk_adsp_mbox_isr irq_thread_fn Freed by task ...: kfree devres_release_all really_probe ... (sof-audio-of-mt8196 probe failure) The crash was observed roughly three seconds after the failed probe. disable_irq() in shutdown and enable_irq() in startup. disable_irq() also waits for any in-flight interrupts, so by the time mbox_free_channel() proceeds to clear chan->cl no rx_callback can run. In addition, request the IRQ with IRQF_NO_AUTOEN so it stays masked between probe and the first client bind — otherwise an early interrupt can crash on chan->cl == NULL in mbox_chan_received_data().
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/mailbox/mtk-adsp-mailbox.c
- What this is
- MAILBOX APIMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/mailbox/ · linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- mtk_adsp_mailbox
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_MAILBOX|CONFIG_MTK_ADSP_MBOX' /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 mtk_adsp_mailboxPrints 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 does not build this code in 1 release. It does build it in 3 releases, so the answer depends on which release the machine runs.
- bookwormn
- trixieMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- forky, sidMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, loong64/loong64, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- n
- not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_MAILBOX, CONFIG_MTK_ADSP_MBOX
- 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
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.21%, higher than 11.0% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/mailbox
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 5.18 | 6.1.178 | b6337a08a63e |
| 5.18 | 6.6.145 | e519c1d8c5ef |
| 5.18 | 6.12.97 | fc6c3deb1d4c |
| 5.18 | 6.18.40 | 7d881615fb63 |
| 5.18 | 7.1.5 | 25d6ea6c76e1 |
| 5.18 | 7.2 | b57d1a40bc43 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-72486, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.