CVE-2026-97972

Summary

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

net: macb: put the "mdio" child node reference on success

macb_mii_init() holds the reference returned by of_get_child_by_name() for macb_mdiobus_register() and drops it only on the error paths, so every successful probe leaks a node reference. On a CM5, overlay removal after four bind cycles reports

OF: ERROR: memory leak, expected refcount 1 instead of 5

Drop the reference after registration, where __mdiobus_register() has already taken its own for the lifetime of the bus.

Affected Software

VendorProductVersion RangeStatus
LinuxLinux8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8 < 5fba30080d298edb742396073372385c961578d3affected
LinuxLinux8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8 < 7d60dc7ff85b73a2119d582ca2d4456b30960380affected
LinuxLinux8a6631f1cece09047fa44608d21d520ca65ce7d8 < 382a373d9ea7a6ac4de9c022385b6217f65ae3ccaffected
LinuxLinux6.13affected
LinuxLinux0 < 6.13unaffected
LinuxLinux6.18.53 <= 6.18.*unaffected
LinuxLinux7.2.7 <= 7.2.*unaffected
LinuxLinux7.3-rc3 <= *unaffected

Weaknesses

References