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CVE-2026-89883
media: rc: sunxi-cir: Unregister rc device on probe failure
Published 2026-09-16 (33 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/media. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89883 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 | fixedDLA-4841-1 · 2026-10-17 · text | 6.1.190-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4841-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-17, in 6.1.190-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6528-1 · 2026-09-29 · text | 6.12.111-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6528-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-29, in 6.12.111-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4817-1 · 2026-10-04 · text | 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4817-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-04, in 6.12.111-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
After rc_register_device() succeeds, later probe failures must undo the registration with rc_unregister_device(). The current error path jumps to the allocation cleanup label and only calls rc_free_device(), leaving the rc device registration and resources created by rc_register_device() behind. Add a registered-device unwind label for the IRQ lookup, IRQ request, and hardware initialization failure paths. Keep rc_free_device() for failures before rc_register_device() succeeds.
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/media/rc/sunxi-cir.c
- What this is
- RC-CORE / LIRC FRAMEWORKMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/media/rc/ · linux-media@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- sunxi_cir
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_IR_SUNXI /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 sunxi_cirPrints 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/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/arm64, arm64/cloud-arm64, arm64/rt/arm64, i386/686, i386/686-pae, i386/rt/686-pae, ppc64el/powerpc64le
- trixieMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- forky, sidMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, loong64/loong64, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- bookworm · linux-6.12Mnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switch
- CONFIG_IR_SUNXI
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
- 2026-09-16 (33 days 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 5.8% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/media
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 3.17 | 5.15.221 | 4655a591478e |
| 3.17 | 6.1.188 | 4efd7146dcf9 |
| 3.17 | 6.6.157 | 826763adbd8b |
| 3.17 | 6.12.110 | 59951b8a87ef |
| 3.17 | 6.18.51 | 5b58d8c206f3 |
| 3.17 | 7.2.5 | 5e6f5bffaa80 |
| 3.17 | 7.3 | 479aa6fa8c50 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4841-1 | 2026-10-17 | bookworm 6.1.190-1 | tracker |
| DLA-4817-1 | 2026-10-04 | bookworm 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
| DSA-6528-1 | 2026-09-29 | trixie 6.12.111-1 | tracker |
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 in sunxi_ir_probe() of the Allwinner CIR platform driver; after a failed probe the leftover rc-core/lirc/input device is reached by opening local /dev/lirc* or /dev/input/event* nodes, not via network packets, Bluetooth, or IR/USB injection.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- After rc_register_device() succeeds, IRQ lookup (including -EPROBE_DEFER), request_irq, or sunxi_ir_hw_init failure calls only rc_free_device(); once the leaked rc/lirc node exists, LIRC_SET_REC_TIMEOUT and similar ioctls deterministically use dangling rc_dev->priv with no attacker-uncontrollable race.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- A low-privileged local user who can open the leaked /dev/lirc* or input event node (typical input-group/udev access on Allwinner STBs, tablets, and SBCs) can ioctl the leftover rc device; bind/unbind is CAP_SYS_ADMIN, but the higher-severity scenario is exploiting an already leaked node.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker opens the leftover lirc or input device and issues ioctls themselves; no victim must mount a filesystem, plug a device, or otherwise interact.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Use-after-free of the probe-owned sunxi_ir object and leftover rc-core state stays in the host kernel and does not cross a VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Failed probe leaves the rc device registered while devres frees the sunxi_ir object that rc_dev->priv still points at, a slab use-after-free; per kernel CVSS guidance that primitive enables arbitrary kernel read.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- sunxi_ir_set_timeout() performs CIR MMIO writes through freed ir->base, and leftover s_timeout/ir_raw callbacks can be redirected after heap reuse, yielding arbitrary write and control-flow hijack.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Using the leftover lirc/input node dereferences freed sunxi_ir state or writes unmapped CIR MMIO, causing kernel oops/panic; any use-after-free is high availability impact.