CVE-2026-97972 (GCVE-0-2026-97972)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-09-25 10:23
Modified
2026-10-19 09:11
Severity ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: macb: put the "mdio" child node reference on success macb_mii_init() holds the reference returned by of_get_child_by_name() for macb_mdiobus_register() and drops it only on the error paths, so every successful probe leaks a node reference. On a CM5, overlay removal after four bind cycles reports OF: ERROR: memory leak, expected refcount 1 instead of 5 Drop the reference after registration, where __mdiobus_register() has already taken its own for the lifetime of the bus.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8
Version: 8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8
Version: 8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/cadence/macb_main.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "5fba30080d298edb742396073372385c961578d3",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "7d60dc7ff85b73a2119d582ca2d4456b30960380",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "382a373d9ea7a6ac4de9c022385b6217f65ae3cc",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/cadence/macb_main.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.13"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "6.13",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.53",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2.7",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.3",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.53",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.13",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.2.7",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.13",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.3",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.13",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: macb: put the \"mdio\" child node reference on success\n\nmacb_mii_init() holds the reference returned by of_get_child_by_name()\nfor macb_mdiobus_register() and drops it only on the error paths, so\nevery successful probe leaks a node reference. On a CM5, overlay\nremoval after four bind cycles reports\n\n  OF: ERROR: memory leak, expected refcount 1 instead of 5\n\nDrop the reference after registration, where __mdiobus_register() has\nalready taken its own for the lifetime of the bus."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:11:38.115Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5fba30080d298edb742396073372385c961578d3"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d60dc7ff85b73a2119d582ca2d4456b30960380"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/382a373d9ea7a6ac4de9c022385b6217f65ae3cc"
        }
      ],
      "title": "net: macb: put the \"mdio\" child node reference on success",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-97972",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-25T10:23:12.139Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:18:58.207Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:11:38.115Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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