Kernel memory leak via unfreed control handler
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
A memory leak in the Cedrus media driver in Linux 4.20 through 7.1.1 allows attackers to retain kernel allocations via unspecified vectors. In cedrus_init_ctrls(), V4L2 initializes the control handler before kzalloc allocates ctx->ctrls, then returns ENOMEM without freeing the handler when that allocation fails. Reachability requires the Cedrus VPU driver and this allocation-failure path; upstream reported no runtime test or demonstrated service interruption.
Summary
What happened
A memory leak in the Cedrus media driver in Linux 4.20 through 7.1.1 allows attackers to retain kernel allocations via unspecified vectors. In cedrus_init_ctrls(), V4L2 initializes the control handler before kzalloc allocates ctx->ctrls, then returns ENOMEM without freeing the handler when that allocation fails. Reachability requires the Cedrus VPU driver and this allocation-failure path; upstream reported no runtime test or demonstrated service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-89896
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 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=4.20
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <22441be29ec27c693f40c1ef499093275ef529d1
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <6fabacc3b79a528450aef4c32464da2ec681049e
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <729a1ffab968b3c493f61d1cd683f5bafec500ea
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <79fd0b0161506fc9507bf7a6fe4c975a857a5be8
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <81aa608ac3a56cdd4aab0bd12442ed529a24ba31
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <9df2fbe563194da1967a5db083442186c1323efe
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <ce5693b6e3a693fcdc3800af309363f6250104c8
- Affected versionversion=50e761516f2b8c0cdeb31a8c6ca1b4ef98cd13f1 <f78cf36cabf911da348ea80e4e9f430d74f6905c
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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