CVE-2026-89741 (CVSS 7.8)

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()" This reverts commit 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a. The intentions of that patch were good, but it doesn't work. The idea is that if device_register fails, you have to do a put_device to let the ref counter release resources. However, the V4L2 API says that if video_register_device() fails, then you have to call video_device_release(), which kfree()s the video_device struct. But the put_device() will already have freed the struct, so you end up in a double-free scenario. There is not really a good way of fixing this without breaking video_register_device() into two parts, one that initializes everything, and one that does the actual device_register, and then converting all V4L2 drivers to this new model. That is a massive job, and it is very unlikely that device_register will fail. So rather than ending up in a double-free scenario, just revert this patch, and in that case we'll have a small memory leak. Which is a lot more robust.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

7.8

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0016

Probability of exploitation

0.06%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

References

Other References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ac009a65d2385e9f0799eaf9d9694a29153a161 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3de14b4f681a1b3c6d375d98d9d37a55ebb85349 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/712ca1cf756de2557a116e0df55791bac0c9f99e https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8027f82c0f5474ed72448e160ee9778051fa1f49 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b998c171ed875e402e1fd1c5cd619e4ca05e9c1 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aad08b5f67d2a8116e1a00bce2611c1513b10bce https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce792b94e03882108019ba996c1a7c4d4e09be2c https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e7600f5cee5de14065f950807931d6e6d40fb2d7

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-89741? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()" This reverts commit 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a. The intentions of that patch were good, but it doesn't work. The idea is that if device_register fails, you have to do a put_device to let the ref counter release resources. However, the V4L2 API says that if video_register_device() fails, then you have to call video_device_release(), which kfree()s the video_device struct. But the put_device() will already have freed the struct, so you end up in a double-free scenario. There is not really a good way of fixing this without breaking video_register_device() into two parts, one that initializes everything, and one that does the actual device_register, and then converting all V4L2 drivers to this new model. That is a massive job, and it is very unlikely that device_register will fail. So rather than ending up in a double-free scenario, just revert this patch, and in that case we'll have a small memory leak. Which is a lot more robust. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-89741? +

CVE-2026-89741 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0016, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-89741? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

CVE-2026-89741