# 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.

- **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-2026-72214, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72214, GHSA-m52x-f225-mf2c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72214

## 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.

## Is CVE-2026-72214 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72214 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72214 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72214 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-2026-72214/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72214/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72214
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72214
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72214

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72214/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.