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Linux Kernel EUVDEUVD-2026-55314

| CVE-2026-68213 HIGH
2026-08-10 Linux GHSA-rjmw-6r45-2xm2
7.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY
7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI
7.8 HIGH

Local access with low-privilege user and SDR device access required; kernel memory corruption enables high C/I/A impact via potential use-after-free.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

5
Analysis Generated
Aug 14, 2026 - 03:34 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Aug 13, 2026 - 23:37 NVD
7.8 (HIGH)
Patch available
Aug 10, 2026 - 14:18 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 10, 2026 - 12:00 cve.org
HIGH 7.8
CVE Published
Aug 10, 2026 - 12:00 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

media: rtl2832_sdr: Return queued buffers on start_streaming() failure

The vb2 framework hands buffers to the driver via buf_queue() before calling start_streaming(). If start_streaming() returns an error without first returning those buffers via vb2_buffer_done(), vb2_start_streaming() fires WARN_ON(owned_by_drv_count) and the queued buffers leak.

rtl2832_sdr_start_streaming() had multiple error paths that hit this trap: two direct early returns (-ENODEV, -ERESTARTSYS), plus six goto err paths covering subdev s_power, tuner setup, ADC setup, stream-buffer allocation, urb allocation, and urb submission failures. None of them returned the queued buffers.

The original function had no distinct success exit and fell straight through into the err label, which previously only did mutex_unlock and "return ret". Adding queued-buffer cleanup at err must therefore be paired with an explicit success return; otherwise every successful start would also drain the buffer queue and kill streaming. Add that success return, then add rtl2832_sdr_cleanup_queued_bufs() at the err label and before each early return.

The cleanup helper takes a vb2_buffer_state argument so that the start_streaming error paths can pass VB2_BUF_STATE_QUEUED (as expected by userspace on start_streaming failure) while stop_streaming keeps its existing VB2_BUF_STATE_ERROR semantics.

This mirrors the uvcvideo fix in commit 4cf3b6fd54eb ("media: uvcvideo: Return queued buffers on start_streaming() failure").

The err label still does not roll back power_ctrl(), frontend_ctrl(), the POWER_ON flag, or stream/URB allocations that may have happened before the failing step. Those are pre-existing leaks of a different class and are not addressed here.

AnalysisAI

Buffer leak in the Linux kernel's rtl2832_sdr media driver allows a local low-privileged user with access to an RTL2832-based SDR device to trigger kernel memory corruption by causing start_streaming() to fail, leaving vb2 framework buffers unreturned and firing WARN_ON(owned_by_drv_count). Affected are Linux kernels from 3.15 through multiple stable branches prior to 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.42, and 7.1.6. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis and EPSS is 0.21% (11th percentile), but the kernel-level memory corruption potential under C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS rating indicates a realistic local privilege escalation risk for systems with SDR hardware attached.

Technical ContextAI

The rtl2832_sdr driver implements a V4L2/vb2 (Video Buffer 2) streaming interface for Realtek RTL2832-based USB software-defined radio dongles, introduced in kernel 3.15 via commit 771138920eafa. The vb2 framework passes DMA-mapped stream buffers to the driver via buf_queue() before invoking start_streaming(). The contract requires that any start_streaming() failure path must call vb2_buffer_done() on all driver-owned buffers to return them to the framework; failing to do so leaves the kernel's owned_by_drv_count counter nonzero, triggers WARN_ON, and leaks the buffer references. The rtl2832_sdr_start_streaming() function contained eight distinct failure paths - two early returns (-ENODEV, -ERESTARTSYS) and six goto-err branches covering subdev s_power, tuner setup, ADC setup, stream-buffer allocation, URB allocation, and URB submission - none of which returned queued buffers. In kernel memory subsystems, such reference leaks can enable use-after-free conditions exploitable for local privilege escalation, consistent with the CWE-level memory-safety class even though no explicit CWE was assigned. The fix mirrors the uvcvideo correction in commit 4cf3b6fd54eb and introduces rtl2832_sdr_cleanup_queued_bufs() with a vb2_buffer_state argument differentiating start_streaming failure (VB2_BUF_STATE_QUEUED) from stop_streaming cleanup (VB2_BUF_STATE_ERROR).

RemediationAI

Upgrade to a patched Linux kernel stable release: 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.42, or 7.1.6 (or 7.2-rc1 for mainline tracking). Upstream fix commits are available at https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/465dc8e71d2db2ed603e749fa71392bcdccf07eb, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0b08c0403cf672a121ace4eff647a9b240bd4e1b, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/894e83509c66910112b9eaeaa8cd66cd9806db91, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc0b18782aab4e35078efe72863df8eab46560a8, and https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33ca0aab6f4bd90921fc1395478f38f72c4d19af. If patching is not immediately possible, the compensating control with the lowest operational impact is blacklisting the rtl2832_sdr kernel module (add 'blacklist rtl2832_sdr' to /etc/modprobe.d/) on systems that do not use SDR hardware; trade-off is loss of RTL2832 SDR functionality. Restricting USB device access via udev rules to prevent unauthorized users from enumerating SDR dongles is a secondary control that limits who can trigger the vulnerable code path, but does not eliminate the underlying bug.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Not-Affected

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EUVD-2026-55314 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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