Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 nvec nvec_rx_completed 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	0.48+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function nvec_rx_completed of the component nvec. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2026-72489. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

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

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: nvec: fix use-after-free in nvec_rx_completed() In nvec_rx_completed(), when an incomplete RX transfer is detected, nvec_msg_free() is called to return the message back to the pool by clearing its 'used' atomic flag. Immediately after this, the code accesses nvec->rx->data[0] to check the message type. Since nvec_msg_free() marks the pool slot as available via atomic_set(), any concurrent or subsequent call to nvec_msg_alloc() could claim that same slot and overwrite its data[] array. Reading nvec->rx->data[0] after freeing the message is therefore a use-after-free. Fix this by saving the message type byte before calling nvec_msg_free(), then using the saved value for the battery quirk check.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-72489 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated 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 5.10.261, 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 6b2ea886ebdae44a2394029844a4e78f58e1587d/a37625c7b688fcf68a54263528eccbabfd7fa17a/9f7fe4165a1f1014bdadc8e744c0fd3c2d8c0b89/08626fcfe12308ca3f8b22c538ba7dee0b2dce7a/f19a5bc059051143c489dd6f79a0f9c3bfd13aea/bb3d592c7d6c4ec8ac6640c690ca13298e7e8e90/5de04caa46b635e180cecbd164e333eca535db94/26813881181deb3a32fbb59eadb2599cbe8423f6 is able to eliminate this problem.

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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
• 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
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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 5.10.261/5.15.212/6.1.178/6.6.145/6.12.97/6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: 6b2ea886ebdae44a2394029844a4e78f58e1587d/a37625c7b688fcf68a54263528eccbabfd7fa17a/9f7fe4165a1f1014bdadc8e744c0fd3c2d8c0b89/08626fcfe12308ca3f8b22c538ba7dee0b2dce7a/f19a5bc059051143c489dd6f79a0f9c3bfd13aea/bb3d592c7d6c4ec8ac6640c690ca13298e7e8e90/5de04caa46b635e180cecbd164e333eca535db94/26813881181deb3a32fbb59eadb2599cbe8423f6

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-2026-72489 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-72489
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390995

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 16:51
Changes: 08/15/2026 16:51 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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