Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 Watchdog watchdog_pm_notifier use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.5	$5k-$25k	1.42

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. Affected by this vulnerability is the function watchdog_pm_notifier of the component Watchdog. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-74329. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. It has been classified as very critical. This affects the function watchdog_pm_notifier of the component Watchdog. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: watchdog: unregister PM notifier on watchdog unregister watchdog_register_device() registers wdd->pm_nb when WDOG_NO_PING_ON_SUSPEND is set, but watchdog_unregister_device() does not remove it. This leaves an embedded notifier block on the PM notifier chain after the watchdog device has been unregistered. A later suspend/resume notification can then call watchdog_pm_notifier() with a stale watchdog_device pointer, or at minimum after wdd->wd_data has been cleared by watchdog_dev_unregister(). Unregister the PM notifier before tearing down the watchdog device.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-74329 since 08/15/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch cd2d1b1f99308f7680d75a377daaff363f1cc736/5d9b58ec6f5de5e159a570d419b1b08b3b9f854b/89184909634e50d086d86d8a0c03fc86fe8d889f/e690afea5c876a4abfa2978c6a664460ed7d1217/298821692d447c2f7b1bc9ef41cd88a31bf56436/c70b5bb6f04f77ef90e047d7edc2f476e206909f/a298c7302ee9584a7a1ac1e8acbede8d98ab51a4 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.211
• 6.1.177
• 6.6.144
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
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• 6.12.89
• 6.12.90
• 6.12.91
• 6.12.92
• 6.12.93
• 6.12.94
• 6.12.95
• 6.12.96
• 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
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• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.15.212/6.1.178/6.6.145/6.12.97/6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: cd2d1b1f99308f7680d75a377daaff363f1cc736/5d9b58ec6f5de5e159a570d419b1b08b3b9f854b/89184909634e50d086d86d8a0c03fc86fe8d889f/e690afea5c876a4abfa2978c6a664460ed7d1217/298821692d447c2f7b1bc9ef41cd88a31bf56436/c70b5bb6f04f77ef90e047d7edc2f476e206909f/a298c7302ee9584a7a1ac1e8acbede8d98ab51a4

Timelineinfo

08/15/2026 Advisory disclosed
08/15/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-74329 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-74329
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390291

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 09:33
Changes: 08/15/2026 09:33 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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