CVE-2026-72486
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mailbox: mtk-adsp: fix UAF during device teardown 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().
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
5.18
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.1.178,
6.6.145,
6.12.97,
6.18.40,
7.1.5,
7.2-rc1
and their respective stable series.
References
6 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-72486?
CVE-2026-72486 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.18 onward and has been patched in 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. CVE-2026-72486 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72486?
Yes. CVE-2026-72486 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.18 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-72486 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-72486 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.