CVE-2026-31604

Service interruption via leaked USB device references

Published Apr 24, 2026 · Updated Apr 24, 2026

Resource leak in the rtw88 USB Wi-Fi driver in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to interrupt service during device probing. The USB probe path takes a redundant reference to the device and fails to release it on every error path, including descriptor-parsing failures. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and an rtw88 USB probe failure; repeated failures consume device references and disrupt availability.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.12%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource leak in the rtw88 USB Wi-Fi driver in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to interrupt service during device probing. The USB probe path takes a redundant reference to the device and fails to release it on every error path, including descriptor-parsing failures. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and an rtw88 USB probe failure; repeated failures consume device references and disrupt availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-31604
Published
Apr 24, 2026
Updated
Apr 24, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 24, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <25a827b7e1d5747a255bdc757f1d3e9e1e8a4e2a
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <89a9c1bc7d797120bcc290864e0cb10a440a677f
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a4f4371d194dfa5473cc961f86194084b1b13a69
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <af7307e96dad00bcc2675dac650d8558a52f2c6f

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <25a827b7e1d5747a255bdc757f1d3e9e1e8a4e2a; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <89a9c1bc7d797120bcc290864e0cb10a440a677f; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a4f4371d194dfa5473cc961f86194084b1b13a69; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <af7307e96dad00bcc2675dac650d8558a52f2c6f

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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