# CVE-2026-89880: media: rtl2832_sdr: release URBs and stream buffers on start_streaming() failure

> A flaw in the rtl2832_sdr driver causes memory leaks and out-of-bounds reads on streaming failure, potentially leading to denial of service 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:** 16 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-101604, BELL-CVE-2026-89880, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89880, GHSA-rq55-pff5-xw57, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89880

## What is CVE-2026-89880?

CVE-2026-89880 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 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:

media: rtl2832_sdr: release URBs and stream buffers on start_streaming() failure

rtl2832_sdr_start_streaming() calls rtl2832_sdr_alloc_stream_bufs(),
rtl2832_sdr_alloc_urbs() and rtl2832_sdr_submit_urbs() in sequence and
shares a single err: label that only unlocks the mutex and returns.
When alloc_urbs() succeeds but submit_urbs() fails, or when alloc_urbs()
itself returns -ENOMEM after alloc_stream_bufs() has already succeeded,
the URBs and/or the coherent DMA stream buffers stay allocated while
streaming reports failure to vb2. Two latent defects follow on the next
VIDIOC_STREAMON:

1) rtl2832_sdr_alloc_stream_bufs() unconditionally resets dev->buf_num
   to 0 and overwrites dev->buf_list[]/dev->dma_addr[], permanently
   leaking the coherent DMA memory allocated by the previous attempt.

2) rtl2832_sdr_alloc_urbs() never resets dev->urbs_initialized and only
   increments it. After a second successful pass urbs_initialized can
   exceed MAX_BULK_BUFS, so the subsequent rtl2832_sdr_free_urbs() walks
   from urbs_initialized - 1 down to 0 and reads past the end of
   dev->urb_list[], passing garbage pointers to usb_free_urb().

Mirror the teardown that stop_streaming() already performs: on the error
path call rtl2832_sdr_free_urbs() and rtl2832_sdr_free_stream_bufs()
before unlocking. Both helpers are idempotent (free_urbs kills and zeros
urbs_initialized; free_stream_bufs is gated on URB_BUF and clears the
buf_num counter), so partial-failure paths and the no-allocation paths
remain safe.

Issue identified by automated review of the INV-003 series at
https://sashiko.dev/

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89880?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-89880?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-89880 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89880 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-89880 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-89880 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 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-2026-89880 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-2026-89880/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89880/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89880
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89880
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-89880

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89880/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.