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CVE-2026-89891
media: em28xx: fix use-after-free of dev_next->devlist on disconnect
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-2026-89891 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
When a device with has_dual_ts=1 is probed and the is_audio_only path is taken, both dev and dev->dev_next are added to the global em28xx_devlist via em28xx_init_extension(). However, during disconnect, em28xx_close_extension(dev) only calls list_del(&dev->devlist), leaving dev->dev_next->devlist still linked in the global list. When dev_next is subsequently freed via kref_put(), its devlist entry becomes a dangling pointer in em28xx_devlist. The next device probe that calls em28xx_init_extension() triggers a list corruption BUG when list_add_tail detects the freed node. This bug was exposed by commit a368ecde8a50 ("USB: core: Fix duplicate endpoint bug by clearing reserved bits in the descriptor") which clears reserved bits in bEndpointAddress during endpoint parsing. This causes fuzzed endpoint addresses like 0xf3 to be normalized to 0x83, which em28xx interprets as a vendor audio endpoint, enabling the is_audio_only + has_dual_ts code path that was previously unreachable with such descriptors. Fix this by removing dev->dev_next->devlist from the global list in em28xx_close_extension() before the device is freed.
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/usb/em28xx/em28xx-core.c
- What this is
- EM28XX VIDEO4LINUX DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/media/usb/em28xx/ · linux-media@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- em28xx
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_VIDEO_EM28XX /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 em28xxPrints 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.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12Mnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switch
- CONFIG_VIDEO_EM28XX
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
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.21%, higher than 10.5% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 4.17 | 5.10.270 | f61720346fdc |
| 4.17 | 5.15.221 | 1ed575b1991f |
| 4.17 | 6.1.188 | da4b07da6281 |
| 4.17 | 6.6.157 | 20aacd87550b |
| 4.17 | 6.12.110 | 20c2c65f3d9f |
| 4.17 | 6.18.51 | 0782807552b6 |
| 4.17 | 7.2.5 | 16cb1ee17e09 |
| 4.17 | 7.3 | 826915b6b65e |
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
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-89891, 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.