# CVE-2026-72396: hwmon: adm1275: Prevent reading uninitialized stack

> A local attacker with hardware access can read uninitialized kernel stack memory via the adm1275 hardware monitoring driver due to missing null termination.

- **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-2026-72396, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72396, GHSA-xgwj-fj27-7g4m, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72396

## What is CVE-2026-72396?

CVE-2026-72396 is a 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:

hwmon: adm1275: Prevent reading uninitialized stack

While adding support for the ROHM BD127X0 hot-swap controllers, sashiko
reported an error in device-name comparison, which can lead to reading
uninitialized stack memory.

Quoting Sashiko:

This is a pre-existing issue, but I noticed that just before this block in
adm1275_probe(), there might be an out-of-bounds stack read:

    ret = i2c_smbus_read_block_data(client, PMBUS_MFR_MODEL, block_buffer);
    if (ret < 0) { ... }
    for (mid = adm1275_id; mid->name[0]; mid++) {
            if (!strncasecmp(mid->name, block_buffer, strlen(mid->name)))
                    break;
    }

Since i2c_smbus_read_block_data() reads up to 32 bytes into the
uninitialized stack array block_buffer without appending a null
terminator, strncasecmp() could read past the valid bytes returned in ret.

For example, if the device returns a shorter string like "adm12", checking
it against "adm1275" up to the length of "adm1275" will continue reading
into uninitialized stack bounds.

Prevent reading uninitialized memory by zeroing the stack array.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72396?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72396?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72396 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72396 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72396 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72396 is a 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-2026-72396 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-2026-72396/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72396/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72396
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72396
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72396

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72396/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.