Linux Kernel up to 6.18.8 nvm drm/xe/ auxiliary_device_init double free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.8. It has been classified as critical. Affected is the function auxiliary_device_init of the file drm/xe/ of the component nvm. This manipulation causes double free. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-23162. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.8. Affected by this vulnerability is the function auxiliary_device_init of the file drm/xe/ of the component nvm. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a double free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-415. The product calls free() twice on the same memory address, potentially leading to modification of unexpected memory locations. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/xe/nvm: Fix double-free on aux add failure After a successful auxiliary_device_init(), aux_dev->dev.release (xe_nvm_release_dev()) is responsible for the kfree(nvm). When there is failure with auxiliary_device_add(), driver will call auxiliary_device_uninit(), which call put_device(). So that the .release callback will be triggered to free the memory associated with the auxiliary_device. Move the kfree(nvm) into the auxiliary_device_init() failure path and remove the err goto path to fix below error. " [ 13.232905] ================================================================== [ 13.232911] BUG: KASAN: double-free in xe_nvm_init+0x751/0xf10 [xe] [ 13.233112] Free of addr ffff888120635000 by task systemd-udevd/273 [ 13.233120] CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 273 Comm: systemd-udevd Not tainted 6.19.0-rc2-lgci-xe-kernel+ #225 PREEMPT(voluntary) ... [ 13.233125] Call Trace: [ 13.233126] <TASK> [ 13.233127] dump_stack_lvl+0x7f/0xc0 [ 13.233132] print_report+0xce/0x610 [ 13.233136] ? kasan_complete_mode_report_info+0x5d/0x1e0 [ 13.233139] ? xe_nvm_init+0x751/0xf10 [xe] ... " v2: drop err goto path. (Alexander) (cherry picked from commit a3187c0c2bbd947ffff97f90d077ac88f9c2a215)

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-23162 since 01/13/2026. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/13/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 299152 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23162), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.18.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 32887d8e4bc0696b3cb6c5915a42b39cfd3434f4/8a44241b0b83a6047c5448da1fff03fcc29496b5 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (299152) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0421). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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