CVE-2026-45989

Local stale-node access via premature reference release

Published May 27, 2026 · Updated May 27, 2026

Use-after-free in drivers/of/unittest.c in Linux Kernel allows local users to access a freed device-tree node during unit tests. testdrv_probe applies an overlay, wrongly releases the device-model-owned node reference, and later passes the same pointer to of_platform_default_populate. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and the OF unit-test PCI path; published sources describe no demonstrated outcome beyond stale memory access.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.16%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in drivers/of/unittest.c in Linux Kernel allows local users to access a freed device-tree node during unit tests. testdrv_probe applies an overlay, wrongly releases the device-model-owned node reference, and later passes the same pointer to of_platform_default_populate. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and the OF unit-test PCI path; published sources describe no demonstrated outcome beyond stale memory access.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-45989
Published
May 27, 2026
Updated
May 27, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
CWE-416
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 27, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 27, 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=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <07fd339b2c253205794bea5d9b4b7548a4546c56
  2. Affected versionversion=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <0ba03e06f037df704d9b032e36d417633e2326bc
  3. Affected versionversion=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <5b6122a67a295f8a08b7c18d908a1bd974dfaec8
  4. Affected versionversion=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <6b2023286d2c6ed3bf964fb92e34c9c14d42eb69
  5. Affected versionversion=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <d68347b07b9801791c9eaab8f772770b52b8cd5c
  6. Affected versionversion=6.6

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <07fd339b2c253205794bea5d9b4b7548a4546c56; version=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <0ba03e06f037df704d9b032e36d417633e2326bc; version=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <5b6122a67a295f8a08b7c18d908a1bd974dfaec8; version=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <6b2023286d2c6ed3bf964fb92e34c9c14d42eb69; version=26409dd045892904b059dc411403e9c8ce7543ca <d68347b07b9801791c9eaab8f772770b52b8cd5c; version=6.6

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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-416Use After Free

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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