CVE-2026-81006 ipmi: Remove all sysfs files on registration failure
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel IPMI driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute code via improper sysfs cleanup on registration failure.
- 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-2026-81006?
CVE-2026-81006 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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:
ipmi: Remove all sysfs files on registration failure
ipmi_add_smi() creates the nr_users and nr_msgs files before trying to create the maintenance_mode file. If that last creation fails, the error path removes only nr_users before dropping the final reference to the interface.
Remove nr_msgs as well so no sysfs attribute embedded in the freed interface remains registered.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-81006?
How do I fix CVE-2026-81006?
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-2026-81006 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-81006 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-81006, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-81006, GHSA-6fj7-8rgr-8w36, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-81006.