Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 AK8975 Driver i2c_smbus_read_i2c_block_data_or_emulated stack-based overflow

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.
5.1	$0-$5k	1.45+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. Impacted is the function i2c_smbus_read_i2c_block_data_or_emulated of the component AK8975 Driver. The manipulation leads to stack-based overflow. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-72481. An attack has to be approached locally. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. This issue affects the function i2c_smbus_read_i2c_block_data_or_emulated of the component AK8975 Driver. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a stack-based overflow vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-121. A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function). Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: magnetometer: ak8975: fix potential kernel stack memory leak Currently in the AK8975 driver there are four instances where potential uninitialized kernel stack memory leaks can occur. If i2c_smbus_read_i2c_block_data_or_emulated() returns a value less than the size of the buffer, uninitialized bytes are retained in the buffer and later the buffer is passed on to IIO buffers, potentially leaking memory to userspace. Fix this by adding checks whether the return value of the function is equal to the size of the buffer and subsequently if the value is lesser than zero to distinguish from a returned error code.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-72481 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.10.261, 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 12848f4ded022963944c063e09a192549a4dad1e/a9cf46054f81972f8c0f1dc2a79d2a141999dbce/9f920550abacedc7fc3163dea65ac2a7d0b0765d/8cf346074533356d67a6a6a43a192328ad341f11/b974566803bceb72f0b9b5f1d7270b79ba963766/3d57672119525c59ed73ea21accb001ccbcd6cfd/fb27ebf81136e796c7b719303ef6fd7e1ae5d488/a9a00d727b7bbc5e913a919530a9dd468935bf95 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.260
• 5.15.211
• 6.1.177
• 6.6.144
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
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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: 5.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.1

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.1
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: Stack-based overflow
CWE: CWE-121 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

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 5.10.261/5.15.212/6.1.178/6.6.145/6.12.97/6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: 12848f4ded022963944c063e09a192549a4dad1e/a9cf46054f81972f8c0f1dc2a79d2a141999dbce/9f920550abacedc7fc3163dea65ac2a7d0b0765d/8cf346074533356d67a6a6a43a192328ad341f11/b974566803bceb72f0b9b5f1d7270b79ba963766/3d57672119525c59ed73ea21accb001ccbcd6cfd/fb27ebf81136e796c7b719303ef6fd7e1ae5d488/a9a00d727b7bbc5e913a919530a9dd468935bf95

Timelineinfo

08/09/2026 CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
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-2026-72481 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-72481
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390989

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 16:49
Changes: 08/15/2026 16:49 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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