CVE-2026-74519 pinctrl: devicetree: don't free uninitialized dev_name on error path
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel pinctrl subsystem allows local attackers to cause a system crash via double-free during device binding.
- 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-2026-74519?
CVE-2026-74519 is a high-severity use after free 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:
pinctrl: devicetree: don't free uninitialized dev_name on error path
dt_remember_or_free_map() duplicates dev_name for each map entry. If kstrdup_const() fails, dt_free_map() frees dev_name in all num_maps entries, including entries that have not been initialized.
Some pinctrl drivers, including pinctrl-imx, allocate the map with kmalloc() and leave dev_name for the core to initialize. The untouched entries therefore contain uninitialized data which is passed to kfree_const().
Reproduced on qemu's mcimx6ul-evk (pinctrl-imx) with failslab injection while binding the pinctrl-consuming device, under KASAN:
BUG: KASAN: double-free in dt_free_map+0x34/0xa4 Free of addr c425a900 by task init/1 kfree from dt_free_map+0x34/0xa4 dt_free_map from dt_remember_or_free_map+0x184/0x198 dt_remember_or_free_map from pinctrl_dt_to_map+0x33c/0x4c8 pinctrl_dt_to_map from create_pinctrl+0x9c/0x5c0
Initialize all dev_name fields to NULL before duplicating the device name, making the full-map cleanup safe after a partial failure.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74519?
How do I fix CVE-2026-74519?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-74519 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74519 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-96555, BELL-CVE-2026-74519, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74519, GHSA-63f7-w376-3432, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74519.