CVE-2026-89740

Kernel use-after-free via stale i.MX UART pointer

Published Sep 11, 2026 · Updated Sep 11, 2026

Use-after-free in the i.MX serial driver in Linux allows local users to dereference stale kernel memory by cycling sibling UART devices. imx_uart_probe() publishes a devm-managed port in imx_uart_ports[] before registration and fails to clear it after registration failure or removal, allowing a sibling probe to use stale storage. Triggering requires privileged device unbind and rebind operations with sibling i.MX UARTs; the demonstrated result is a KASAN report, with no established privilege escalation or code execution.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.20%
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 the i.MX serial driver in Linux allows local users to dereference stale kernel memory by cycling sibling UART devices. imx_uart_probe() publishes a devm-managed port in imx_uart_ports[] before registration and fails to clear it after registration failure or removal, allowing a sibling probe to use stale storage. Triggering requires privileged device unbind and rebind operations with sibling i.MX UARTs; the demonstrated result is a KASAN report, with no established privilege escalation or code execution.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-89740
Published
Sep 11, 2026
Updated
Sep 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 11, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 11, 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=2.6.27
  2. Affected versionversion=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <28b932202fcdbeb2ef58d89ce4363f480433c234
  3. Affected versionversion=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <681696ae9e4a28bdf54893c807dfe4a6c08e30a5
  4. Affected versionversion=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <7429dce56a73bc080a8c072edb167106f73a08ae
  5. Affected versionversion=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <8b0b29fdcb47907ae0296b8fe829e918e05e300f

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.27; version=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <28b932202fcdbeb2ef58d89ce4363f480433c234; version=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <681696ae9e4a28bdf54893c807dfe4a6c08e30a5; version=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <7429dce56a73bc080a8c072edb167106f73a08ae; version=dbff4e9ea2e83fda89143389bfb229cb29425a32 <8b0b29fdcb47907ae0296b8fe829e918e05e300f

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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