OF-node refcount underflow via malformed device tree
Published Sep 24, 2026 · Updated Sep 24, 2026
Reference-count underflow in Linux kernel 6.5 allows attackers to corrupt an OF-node count through malformed Tegra VIP device-tree data. The tegra_vip_channel_of_parse function borrows dev->of_node without acquiring a reference, then sends parse failures to err_node_put, which releases that borrowed node. Triggering requires a Tegra20 VIP device and malformed endpoint data during driver initialization; published material identifies the reference-count underflow but no further consequence.
Summary
What happened
Reference-count underflow in Linux kernel 6.5 allows attackers to corrupt an OF-node count through malformed Tegra VIP device-tree data. The tegra_vip_channel_of_parse function borrows dev->of_node without acquiring a reference, then sends parse failures to err_node_put, which releases that borrowed node. Triggering requires a Tegra20 VIP device and malformed endpoint data during driver initialization; published material identifies the reference-count underflow but no further consequence.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-93223
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 24, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 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?
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- Affected versionversion=6.5
- Affected versionversion=e740d199cf0ff1e53ddc2ab067c0a09b55845d68 <1295ba29ac590bbb5c4a586afd408018168af10b
- Affected versionversion=e740d199cf0ff1e53ddc2ab067c0a09b55845d68 <656d047dc0c29c0964d840217a0593f16aa9bc5e
- Affected versionversion=e740d199cf0ff1e53ddc2ab067c0a09b55845d68 <7393372f79db940acff206b43e2905685a0c57ad
- Affected versionversion=e740d199cf0ff1e53ddc2ab067c0a09b55845d68 <a3783800c9475fa58b8db0885893f96a23f949da
- Affected versionversion=e740d199cf0ff1e53ddc2ab067c0a09b55845d68 <fc9937019cf7e2fe4e29f9341e6400bcd2cde721
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
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