CVE-2026-68461 device property: initialize the remaining fields of fwnode_handle in fwnode_init()
An attacker can cause a kernel crash by triggering a dereference of uninitialized memory in the Linux kernel's device property handling.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-68461?
CVE-2026-68461 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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:
device property: initialize the remaining fields of fwnode_handle in fwnode_init()
If a firmware node is allocated on the stack (for instance: temporary software node whose life-time we control) or on the heap - but using a non-zeroing allocation function - and initialized using fwnode_init(), its secondary pointer will contain uninitialized memory which likely will be neither NULL nor IS_ERR() and so may end up being dereferenced (for example: in dev_to_swnode()). Set fwnode->secondary to NULL on initialization. While at it: initialize the remaining fields of struct fwnode_handle too just to be sure.
[ Fix typo in commit message. - Danilo ]
Weakness: CWE-665
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68461?
How do I fix CVE-2026-68461?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-68461 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68461 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-68461, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68461, GHSA-f2v8-v28c-j8h9, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68461.