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Unscored CVE-2026-97922 EUVD-2026-86776GHSA-m6gp-f257-gxcp

tracing: Free histogram var refs regardless of how often they are referenced

Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Oct 19, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: kernel Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-6.12 Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.15 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.4 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-7.0 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.15 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.4 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-7.0 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.15 Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.17 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fde-7.0 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.4 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-7.0 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.4 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-7.0 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-5.15 Package: linux-ibm-5.4 Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-intel-iotg Package: linux-intel-iotg-5.15 Package: linux-iot Package: linux-kvm Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-7.0 Package: linux-nvidia-bos Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-igx Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oem-7.0 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.15 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.4 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-oracle-7.0 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-5.4 Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.15 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-riscv-7.0 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Package: linux-xilinx-zynqmp Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Azure Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tracing: Free histogram var refs regardless of how often they are referenced

Using the same variable three or more times in one hist trigger leaks the
variable reference and its strings when the trigger is removed.

commit 656fe2ba85e8 ("tracing: Use hist trigger's var_ref array to destroy
var_refs") made a trigger's var_refs[] array the only owner of a var ref:
destroy_hist_field() returns early for HIST_FIELD_FL_VAR_REF, so the field
expressions never destroy one. One entry, freed once, no count needed.

commit 8bcebc77e85f ("tracing: Fix histogram code when expression has same
var as value") then made repeated references share one object and added a
count of them. Only the increment side exists, since those expressions
still return early and never drop a reference, so __destroy_hist_field()
sees how many references were created rather than how many are left. It
frees when the decremented count is 0 or 1, so two references work and
three or more leak.

Sharing kept one array entry per object, and create_var_ref() searches and
appends within a single trigger, so nothing outside it holds the object.
Removing a trigger whose variables are still referenced is already refused
by check_var_refs() with -EBUSY. Drop the count and free unconditionally.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 4.19.100 – < 4.20, 5.4.16 – < 5.5, 5.5 4.20

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 7.2.7-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.111-1 —
Debian 12 linux 6.1.190-1 —
Debian 12 linux-6.12 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1036.41 —
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS linux-bluefield No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-42.42 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws 7.0.0-1016.17 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure 7.0.0-1020.21 USN-9019-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 7.0.0-1019.19 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gcp 7.0.0-1016.18 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1010.11 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1017.17 USN-8960-1, USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-oracle 7.0.0-1015.16 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1023.23 USN-9021-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-realtime 7.0.0-43.43.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv 7.0.0-42.42.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-149.149 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws 6.8.0-1069.74 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-7.0 7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure 6.8.0-1073.82 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1071.78 USN-9039-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp 6.8.0-1073.81 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-7.0 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1068.77 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1053.57 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1069.70 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-149.149.1 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia 6.8.0-1067.70 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1067.70.1 USN-9040-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1067.71 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle-7.0 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1068.72 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-vmware 6.8.0-1010.10 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux +50 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149~22.04.1 USN-9066-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1 USN-9025-1
Show 12 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
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 —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2056.58 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1064.65 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 20.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1069.74+fips1 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 6.8.0-1073.82+fips1 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 6.8.0-1073.81+fips1 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-preview 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux +21 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS linux-aws-5.4 +6 No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed kernel-source 7.2.9-1.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:12074-1

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 kernel 6.6.158.1-1 —

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-207.111.5.1.el10uek ELSA-2026-500374

Advisories 16

References