CVE-2026-31621 bnge: return after auxiliary_device_uninit() in error path

What is CVE-2026-31621?

CVE-2026-31621 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bnge: return after auxiliary_device_uninit() in error path

When auxiliary_device_add() fails, the error block calls auxiliary_device_uninit() but does not return. The uninit drops the last reference and synchronously runs bnge_aux_dev_release(), which sets bd->auxr_dev = NULL and frees the underlying object. The subsequent bd->auxr_dev->net = bd->netdev then dereferences NULL, which is not a good thing to have happen when trying to clean up from an error.

Add the missing return, as the auxiliary bus documentation states is a requirement (seems that LLM tools read documentation better than humans do...)

Weakness: CWE-908

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31621?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-31621?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-31621 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31621 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as AZL-84023, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31621, GHSA-jq95-p6v7-8mxr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31621.