Linux Kernel up to 6.6.133/6.12.80/6.18.21/6.19.11 rz_mtu3_terminate_counter privilege escalation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as problematic has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.133/6.12.80/6.18.21/6.19.11. The affected element is the function rz_mtu3_terminate_counter. Performing a manipulation results in an unknown weakness. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-31741. There is no available exploit. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.133/6.12.80/6.18.21/6.19.11. It has been classified as problematic. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: counter: rz-mtu3-cnt: prevent counter from being toggled multiple times Runtime PM counter is incremented / decremented each time the sysfs enable file is written to. If user writes 0 to the sysfs enable file multiple times, runtime PM usage count underflows, generating the following message. rz-mtu3-counter rz-mtu3-counter.0: Runtime PM usage count underflow! At the same time, hardware registers end up being accessed with clocks off in rz_mtu3_terminate_counter() to disable an already disabled channel. If user writes 1 to the sysfs enable file multiple times, runtime PM usage count will be incremented each time, requiring the same number of 0 writes to get it back to 0. If user writes 0 to the sysfs enable file while PWM is in progress, PWM is stopped without counter being the owner of the underlying MTU3 channel. Check against the cached count_is_enabled value and exit if the user is trying to set the same enable value.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-31741 since 03/09/2026. The exploitability is told 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 07/01/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.6.134, 6.12.81, 6.18.22 or 6.19.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 885aa739a07ab45e90dfa997205acec97979ce4e/ced8b48420eddb1251f93c22dc23fa136490b3cd/e07237df8538b0ae98dce112e4f6db093d767f80/f5f6f06d7e6d262026578b59ba7426eb04acce5d/67c3f99bed6f422ba343d2b70a2eeeccdfd91bef 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1346). 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
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Microsoft Azure Linux
• Red Hat OpenShift

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.133
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.12.69
• 6.12.70
• 6.12.71
• 6.12.72
• 6.12.73
• 6.12.74
• 6.12.75
• 6.12.76
• 6.12.77
• 6.12.78
• 6.12.79
• 6.12.80
• 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
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.19.0
• 6.19.1
• 6.19.2
• 6.19.3
• 6.19.4
• 6.19.5
• 6.19.6
• 6.19.7
• 6.19.8
• 6.19.9
• 6.19.10
• 6.19.11

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

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