CVE-2026-64376
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
firmware_loader: fix device reference leak in firmware_upload_register()
firmware_upload_register()
-> fw_create_instance()
-> device_initialize()
After fw_create_instance() succeeds, the lifetime of the embedded struct
device is expected to be managed through the device core reference
counting, since fw_create_instance() has already called
device_initialize().
In firmware_upload_register(), if alloc_lookup_fw_priv() fails after
fw_create_instance() succeeds, the code reaches free_fw_sysfs and frees
fw_sysfs directly instead of releasing the device reference with
put_device(). This may leave the reference count of the embedded struct
device unbalanced, resulting in a refcount leak.
The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and
confirmed by manual review. Fix this by using put_device(fw_dev) in the
failure path and letting fw_dev_release() handle the final cleanup,
instead of freeing the instance directly from the error path.
CSIRTS triage
- What
- There is a device reference leak in firmware_upload_register().
- Who is affected
- Deployments using the firmware loader.
- Urgency
- Remediation is important to prevent resource leaks, but no exploitation is reported.
- Action
- Update the firmware loader to the latest version.
AI-assisted analysis generated from the source advisory — verify against the original.
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Exploitation outlook
- Low exploitation risk0.17% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 7% of all EPSS-scored CVEs.
Advisory coverage (2)
External references
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[](https://www.csirts.com/cve/CVE-2026-64376)