# CVE-2026-72406: net: sungem: fix probe error cleanup

> A double-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's sungem network driver during probe error handling can cause a system crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72406, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72406, GHSA-hmg3-fx9r-3v68, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72406

## What is CVE-2026-72406?

CVE-2026-72406 is a high-severity 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:

net: sungem: fix probe error cleanup

gem_init_one() calls gem_remove_one() when register_netdev() fails.
gem_remove_one() unregisters and frees resources owned by the net_device,
including the DMA block, MMIO mapping, PCI regions, and the net_device
itself. gem_init_one() then falls through to its own cleanup labels and
frees the same resources again.

Keep the register_netdev() error path in gem_init_one(): clear drvdata so
PM/remove paths do not see a half-registered device, remove the NAPI
instance added during probe, and let the existing cleanup labels release
the resources once.

The issue was found by a local static-analysis checker for probe error
paths. The reported path was manually inspected before sending this fix.

Compile-tested with CONFIG_SUNGEM=y. Runtime testing was not performed
because no sungem hardware is available.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72406?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72406?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72406 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72406 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72406 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72406 is a high-severity 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-2026-72406 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-2026-72406/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72406/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72406
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72406
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72406

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72406/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.