Linux Kernel up to 7.1-rc2 usb usblp_ctrl_msg uninitialized pointer

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.87/6.18.29/7.0.6/7.1-rc2. This affects the function usblp_ctrl_msg of the component usb. The manipulation results in uninitialized pointer. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-46167. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.87/6.18.29/7.0.6/7.1-rc2. Affected is the function usblp_ctrl_msg of the component usb. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a uninitialized pointer vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-824. The product accesses or uses a pointer that has not been initialized. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: usblp: fix uninitialized heap leak via LPGETSTATUS ioctl Just like in a previous problem in this driver, usblp_ctrl_msg() will collapse the usb_control_msg() return value to 0/-errno, discarding the actual number of bytes transferred. Ideally that short command should be detected and error out, but many printers are known to send "incorrect" responses back so we can't just do that. statusbuf is kmalloc(8) at probe time and never filled before the first LPGETSTATUS ioctl. usblp_read_status() requests 1 byte. If a malicious printer responds with zero bytes, *statusbuf is one byte of stale kmalloc heap, sign-extended into the local int status, which the LPGETSTATUS path then copy_to_user()s directly to the ioctl caller. Fix this all by just zapping out the memory buffer when allocated at probe time. If a later call does a short read, the data will be identical to what the device sent it the last time, so there is no "leak" of information happening.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-46167 since 05/13/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 06/11/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.6.140, 6.12.88, 6.18.30, 7.0.7 or 7.1-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d06d937b0a4cdb8867f04275c8100a8b943da31a/a502b997668401a6821501fc98b7f9220f9b6ff2/762a6ccf391db0d629e590a803a3a2231e17dd3f/6b0e7438e31c74b01514d31ff35c1e688c4baaba/b38e53cbfb9d84732e5984fbd73e128d592415c5 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.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.139
• 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
• 6.12.81
• 6.12.82
• 6.12.83
• 6.12.84
• 6.12.85
• 6.12.86
• 6.12.87
• 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
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3
• 7.0.4
• 7.0.5
• 7.0.6
• 7.1-rc1
• 7.1-rc2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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