Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
i2c: core: Fix double-free of fwnode in i2c_unregister_device()
Before commit df6d7277e552 ("i2c: core: Do not dereference fwnode in struct
device"), i2c_unregister_device() only called fwnode_handle_put() on
of_node-s in the form of calling of_node_put(client->dev.of_node).
But after this commit the i2c_client's fwnode now unconditionally gets
fwnode_handle_put() on it.
When the i2c_client has no primary (ACPI / OF) fwnode but it does have
a software fwnode, the software-node will be the primary node and
fwnode_handle_put() will put() it.
But for the software fwnode device_remove_software_node() will also put()
it leading to a double free:
[ 82.665598] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 82.665609] refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.
[ 82.665808] WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 1502 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x11
...
[ 82.666830] RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110
...
[ 82.666962] <TASK>
[ 82.666971] i2c_unregister_device+0x60/0x90
Fix this by not calling fwnode_handle_put() when the primary fwnode is
a software-node.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.16 | 6.16.2 |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-intel +8 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +32 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +28 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp +14 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe-edge | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 1
- WID-SEC-2025-1976 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Denial of Service BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 12, 2026