# CVE-2026-98535: fsl/fman: Fix clk reference leak in read_dts_node()

> A clock reference leak in the Linux kernel FMan driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-109089, BELL-CVE-2026-98535, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98535, GHSA-qmfm-wg2c-j3hg, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98535

## What is CVE-2026-98535?

CVE-2026-98535 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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:

fsl/fman: Fix clk reference leak in read_dts_node()

of_clk_get() returns a clock with its reference count incremented, but
read_dts_node() only uses it to read the rate and never calls clk_put().
The clock is not stored anywhere, so the reference cannot be released
later either.

Release the clock once its rate has been read, which also covers the
error path taken when the rate is zero.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98535?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98535?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98535 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98535 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98535 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98535 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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-2026-98535 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-2026-98535/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98535/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98535
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98535
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98535

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98535/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.