# CVE-2026-89472: power: supply: charger-manager: register regulators before exposing sysfs

> A race condition in the Linux kernel charger-manager allows use-after-free via sysfs writes, potentially enabling privilege escalation or code execution.

- **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:** 11 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-110432, BELL-CVE-2026-89472, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89472, GHSA-24qw-5j5f-29wm, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89472

## What is CVE-2026-89472?

CVE-2026-89472 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:

power: supply: charger-manager: register regulators before exposing sysfs

charger_manager_remove() and the err_reg_extcon probe error path free each
charger regulator with regulator_put() before tearing down the power_supply
sysfs entries (power_supply_unregister()). charger_manager_remove() also
calls try_charger_enable(cm, false) after the regulator_put() loop. A
concurrent write to a charger's externally_control sysfs attribute that
lands between regulator_put() and power_supply_unregister() can run
charger_externally_control_store() and call try_charger_enable(), which,
when charging is enabled, dereferences the already-freed consumer handle.
When charging is enabled, try_charger_enable(cm, false) in .remove() also
dereferences the freed handles directly. Both leave use-after-free windows.
Symmetrically, probe registers the sysfs entries (power_supply_register)
before acquiring the regulators (regulator_get, inside
charger_manager_register_extcon), so userspace can reach externally_control
before the regulators are available.

Split charger_manager_register_extcon() on the sync/async boundary:
charger_manager_get_regulators() (regulator_get only, no async producer)
now runs before power_supply_register() so sysfs is not live before
regulators are available, and charger_manager_register_extcon() keeps only
the extcon notifier/work setup, still after power_supply_register() so a
power_supply_register() failure cannot reach extcon setup. This keeps the
sysfs setup/teardown ordering symmetric without introducing an asynchronous
producer on the earlier probe-error path.

Move power_supply_unregister() and try_charger_enable(cm, false) ahead of
the regulator_put() loop on both teardown paths, and adjust err_reg_extcon
(power_supply_unregister() then fall through err_regulator for
regulator_put(); get_regulators self-rolls back on its own failure).

This does not address the separate extcon-notifier-driven deref of the same
handles, which needs its own synchronization design.

Found by an in-house static analysis tool.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89472?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-89472?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-89472 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89472 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-89472 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-89472 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89472 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-2026-89472/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89472/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89472
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89472
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-89472

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89472/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.