# CVE-2026-45868: pinctrl: single: fix refcount leak in pcs_add_gpio_func()

> A refcount leak in the Linux kernel pinctrl driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 27 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-45868, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45868, GHSA-m8c9-pvw4-86cp, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-45868, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45868, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45868

## What is CVE-2026-45868?

CVE-2026-45868 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 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:

pinctrl: single: fix refcount leak in pcs_add_gpio_func()

of_parse_phandle_with_args() returns a device_node pointer with refcount
incremented in gpiospec.np. The loop iterates through all phandles but
never releases the reference, causing a refcount leak on each iteration.

Add of_node_put() calls to release the reference after extracting the
needed arguments and on the error path when devm_kzalloc() fails.

This bug was detected by our static analysis tool and verified by my
code review.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45868?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-45868?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-45868 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45868 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-45868 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45868 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45868 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45868/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45868/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45868
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45868
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45868

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45868/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.