# CVE-2026-64455: USB: chaoskey: Fix slab-use-after-free in chaoskey_release()

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel chaoskey USB driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute code by closing the device file after unplugging.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 25 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-64455, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64455, GHSA-w6hm-pc27-4xcr, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-64455, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64455

## What is CVE-2026-64455?

CVE-2026-64455 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 Jul 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:

USB: chaoskey: Fix slab-use-after-free in chaoskey_release()

The chaoskey driver has a use-after-free bug in its release routine.
If the user closes the device file after the USB device has been
unplugged, a debugging log statement will try to access the
usb_interface structure after it has been deallocated:

	BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in dev_driver_string (drivers/base/core.c:2406)
	Read of size 8 at addr ffff888168e8a0b8 by task chaoskey_raw_re/10106

	Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014
	Call Trace:
	 <TASK>
	 dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:94 lib/dump_stack.c:120)
	 print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:378 mm/kasan/report.c:482)
	 kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:595)
	 dev_driver_string (drivers/base/core.c:2406)
	 __dynamic_dev_dbg (lib/dynamic_debug.c:906)
	 chaoskey_release (drivers/usb/misc/chaoskey.c:323)
	 __fput (fs/file_table.c:510)
	 fput_close_sync (fs/file_table.c:615)
	 __x64_sys_close (fs/open.c:1507 fs/open.c:1492 fs/open.c:1492)
	 do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94)
	 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:121)

The driver's last reference to the interface structure is dropped in
the chaoskey_free() routine, so the code must not use the interface --
even in a debugging statement -- after that routine returns.
(Exception: If we know that another reference is held by someone else,
such as the device core while the disconnect routine runs, there's no
problem.  Thanks to Johan Hovold for pointing this out.)

Since the bad access is part of an unimportant debugging statement,
we can fix the problem simply by removing the whole statement.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64455?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-64455?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-64455 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64455 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-64455 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-64455 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 Jul 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-2026-64455 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-64455/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64455/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-64455
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64455
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-64455

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64455/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.