Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 Bluetooth hci_register_dev hdev 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-$25k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as very critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. Affected by this issue is the function hci_register_dev of the component Bluetooth. Such manipulation of the argument hdev leads to use after free. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-97908. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. Affected by this issue is the function hci_register_dev of the component Bluetooth. The manipulation of the argument hdev 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: btqcomsmd: destroy RPMsg endpoints before freeing hci_dev The command and ACL RPMsg endpoints store struct btqcomsmd as their callback private data. The receive callbacks dereference btq->hdev without taking an hci_dev reference. The current teardown order frees the hci_dev before destroying the RPMsg endpoints in both the hci_register_dev() error path and the driver remove path. If WCNSS delivers data in that window, the endpoint callback can run with an already freed hci_dev and pass it to the Bluetooth core. For qcom_smd endpoints, rpmsg_destroy_ept() closes the channel and clears the callback under the channel recv_lock. The receive path holds the same lock while invoking the callback, so destroying the endpoints first both prevents new callbacks and serializes with any callback already running. Destroy the command and ACL endpoints before hci_free_dev(). Keep hci_unregister_dev() first during remove so the HCI core stops issuing operations before the transport endpoints are shut down. In the full registration-error cleanup path, return directly after freeing the hci_dev to avoid falling through to the partial-construction labels and destroying the endpoints twice.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-97908 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.12.111, 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 962dcc1d8a52e64428cae07806e7f6b8d3ec6ac0/2dcc2240b4e5f6e5dce1736f82666aba40eb3b13/2d016208a011558f211ec9687889df8318654730/f5a427b16e45210dee656b0860728f3d496dee85 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

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-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.111/6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3
Patch: 962dcc1d8a52e64428cae07806e7f6b8d3ec6ac0/2dcc2240b4e5f6e5dce1736f82666aba40eb3b13/2d016208a011558f211ec9687889df8318654730/f5a427b16e45210dee656b0860728f3d496dee85

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 Advisory disclosed
09/25/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-97908 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-97908
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410114

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 14:46
Changes: 09/25/2026 14:46 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Do you know our Splunk app?

Download it now for free!