Kernel crash via probe-error use-after-free
Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026
Use-after-free in the Linux vub300 MMC driver allows local users to crash the kernel during a failed USB controller probe. After the inactivity timer queues dead work, the probe error path calls mmc_free_host() directly instead of releasing vub300 through its reference-counted lifetime, leaving queued work to dereference freed controller storage. Reachability requires mmc_add_host() to fail after taking more than the one-second timeout, so the race is unlikely in practice and the bounded consequence is a local kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Linux vub300 MMC driver allows local users to crash the kernel during a failed USB controller probe. After the inactivity timer queues dead work, the probe error path calls mmc_free_host() directly instead of releasing vub300 through its reference-counted lifetime, leaving queued work to dereference freed controller storage. Reachability requires mmc_add_host() to fail after taking more than the one-second timeout, so the race is unlikely in practice and the bounded consequence is a local kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-72073
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-416
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 15, 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.
- Affected versionversion=0613ad2401f88bdeae5594c30afe318e93b14676 <5b82af744e06cd741938c3da54fdbe564a7e52d9
- Affected versionversion=0613ad2401f88bdeae5594c30afe318e93b14676 <618cf6b139503ec18ef93ffd663396aaf99b763a
- Affected versionversion=0613ad2401f88bdeae5594c30afe318e93b14676 <a3b5f242997a3be7404112fd48784881560aea57
- Affected versionversion=2044b2ea77945f372ef161d1bbf814e471767ff2
- Affected versionversion=25f05d762ca5e1c685002a53dd44f68e78ca3feb
- Affected versionversion=3049a3b927a40d89d4582ff1033cd7953be773c7
- Affected versionversion=3b29f8769d32016b2d89183db4d80c7a71b7e35e
- Affected versionversion=4.14.303 <4.15
- Affected versionversion=4.19.270 <4.20
- Affected versionversion=41ed46bdbd2878cd6567abe0974a445f8b1b8ec8
- Affected versionversion=4.9.337 <4.10
- Affected versionversion=5.10.163 <5.11
- Affected versionversion=5.15.86 <5.16
- Affected versionversion=5.4.229 <5.5
- Affected versionversion=6.0.16 <6.1
- Affected versionversion=6.1.2 <6.2
- Affected versionversion=6.2
- Affected versionversion=a46e681151bbdacdf6b89ee8c4e5bad0555142bb
- Affected versionversion=afc898019e7bf18c5eb7a0ac19852fcb1b341b3c
- Affected versionversion=c9e85979b59cb86f0a15defa8199d740e2b36b90
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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