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CVE-2026-89940
iio: buffer: Tie IIO dma fence lock lifetime to the fence
Published 2026-09-16 (33 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/iio. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89940 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 | 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
The `iio_dma_fence` implementation currently uses a lock embedded in the `iio_dmabuf_priv`. But the `iio_dma_fence` can outlive the `iio_dmabuf_priv`, which can cause a use-after-free. Tie the lifetime of the lock to the lifetime of the fence by embedding them in the same struct. We can't just hold a reference to the `iio_dmabuf_priv` from the `iio_dma_fence` since `iio_buffer_dmabuf_release()` might sleep and the fence release callback is not allowed to sleep. Note that the `dma_fence` framework now has an internal lock that gets used when the passing `NULL` for `lock` in `dma_fence_init()`, but in order to allow this patch to be backportable use an external lock.
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/iio/industrialio-buffer.c
- What this is
- IIO SUBSYSTEM AND DRIVERSMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/iio/ · linux-iio@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- industrialio
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_IIO|CONFIG_IIO_BUFFER' /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 industrialioPrints 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
- trixie, forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, s390x/s390x
- 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 switches
- CONFIG_IIO, CONFIG_IIO_BUFFER
- 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
- 2026-09-16 (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
- 0.16%, higher than 4.6% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/iio
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.11 | 6.12.110 | 6865d79fca17 |
| 6.11 | 6.18.51 | 510497e31be4 |
| 6.11 | 7.2.5 | 8b3e22159018 |
| 6.11 | 7.3 | f25ec4627d93 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 use-after-free is reached through local IIO_BUFFER_DMABUF_ATTACH/ENQUEUE/DETACH ioctls on an anonymous iio:buffer fd from IIO_BUFFER_GET_FD_IOCTL on /dev/iio:deviceN; it is not reachable from network packet processing or adjacent-link protocols.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker fully controls the lifetime mismatch: they attach and enqueue a DMA-BUF so the dma_fence lock lives in iio_dmabuf_priv, then detach so priv is freed while the fence remains in the DMA-BUF reservation, and later DMA_BUF_IOCTL_SYNC/wait takes that freed lock.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- The IIO open and ioctl path has no capability check, only filesystem access to the device node. On Android phones, industrial converters, and embedded systems exposing this DMA-BUF buffer API, /dev/iio:device* is commonly group-accessible without init-namespace root.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker opens the IIO device, issues the DMA-BUF attach/enqueue/detach ioctls, and waits on their own DMA-BUF file descriptor; no separate victim action is required.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- This is a standard in-kernel heap use-after-free of iio_dmabuf_priv within the host kernel's security authority, not a VM escape, IOMMU boundary bypass, or sandbox escape.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The dma_fence retains a pointer to a spinlock embedded in freed iio_dmabuf_priv; later fence wait/sync operations use that lock, a slab use-after-free that can be turned into an arbitrary kernel memory read via heap spraying.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The same use-after-free of iio_dmabuf_priv lets an attacker reclaim the object and corrupt dma_fence lock and callback state during later wait or signaling paths, enabling heap corruption, arbitrary write, and control-flow hijacking.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Taking a spinlock in already-freed iio_dmabuf_priv memory causes a kernel oops, BUG, or panic; any use-after-free is high availability impact even when not fully exploited.