CVE-2026-72214 power: supply: cpcap-battery: Fix missing nvmem_device_put() causing reference leak
A reference leak in the Linux kernel cpcap-battery driver can exhaust resources, leading to a denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-72214?
CVE-2026-72214 is a denial of service 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:
power: supply: cpcap-battery: Fix missing nvmem_device_put() causing reference leak
In cpcap_battery_detect_battery_type(), the reference to an nvmem device obtained via nvmem_device_find() is not released with nvmem_device_put() on the success or read-failure paths, causing a permanent reference leak. The driver’s retry logic on subsequent battery property reads can compound this leak, preventing the nvmem device from ever being freed.
Found by code review.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72214?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72214?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-72214 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72214 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-72214, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72214, GHSA-m52x-f225-mf2c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72214.