# CVE-2026-90296: cpufreq: imx6q: fix devres accumulation across driver rebind

> A memory leak in the imx6q cpufreq driver causes resource exhaustion during repeated driver rebinds, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-102461, BELL-CVE-2026-90296, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90296, GHSA-rfcg-vqg6-9mfp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90296

## What is CVE-2026-90296?

CVE-2026-90296 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 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:

cpufreq: imx6q: fix devres accumulation across driver rebind

imx6_soc_volt is allocated with devm_kcalloc(cpu_dev, ...), where cpu_dev
is the CPU device from get_cpu_device(0). That device is never unbound, so
its devres list is never released, and imx6q_cpufreq_remove() does not free
the array either. Every probe therefore adds an allocation that stays for
the lifetime of the system.

Allocate against the platform device instead. Its devres is released when
the driver is unbound, which is exactly the lifetime the array wants:
imx6q_set_target() reads it, and nothing may reach that after
cpufreq_unregister_driver().

That makes the array actually go away on unbind, so also clear the
file-scope pointer in remove and on the failed-probe path, rather than
leave it pointing at memory devres is about to release.

Tested by rebinding the driver on qemu's mcimx6ul-evk.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90296?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-90296?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-90296 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90296 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90296 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90296 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 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-2026-90296 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-2026-90296/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90296/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90296
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90296
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90296

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90296/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.