# CVE-2026-72026: irqchip/irq-riscv-imsic-early: Fix fwnode leak on state setup failure

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel's RISC-V IMSIC driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service upon initialization failure.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72026, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72026, GHSA-29m7-j59q-hvh8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72026

## What is CVE-2026-72026?

CVE-2026-72026 is a memory corruption 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:

irqchip/irq-riscv-imsic-early: Fix fwnode leak on state setup failure

imsic_early_acpi_init() allocates a firmware node before setting up the
IMSIC state. If imsic_setup_state() fails, the function returns without
freeing the allocated fwnode.

Free the fwnode and clear the global pointer on this error path, matching
the cleanup already done when imsic_early_probe() fails.

[ tglx: Use a common cleanup path instead of copying code around ]

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72026?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72026?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72026 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72026 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72026 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72026 is a memory corruption 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72026 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-2026-72026/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72026/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72026
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72026
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72026

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72026/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.