CVE-2026-72144 platform/x86: dell-laptop: fix missing cleanups in init error path
Missing resource cleanup in the Dell laptop driver init error path can leave stale kernel resources registered, potentially causing instability or resource leaks.
- 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-2026-72144?
CVE-2026-72144 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:
platform/x86: dell-laptop: fix missing cleanups in init error path
dell_init() initializes several resources after dell_setup_rfkill(), including the optional touchpad LED, keyboard backlight LED, battery hook, debugfs directory and dell-laptop notifier.
If a later LED or backlight registration fails, the error path only tears down the battery hook and rfkill resources. This leaves the notifier, debugfs directory, keyboard backlight LED and optional touchpad LED registered after dell_init() returns an error.
Add the missing cleanup calls before tearing down rfkill.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72144?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72144?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-72144 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72144 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-72144, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72144, GHSA-v9hf-qh3h-mwjj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72144.