HIGH Introduced in 6.11
iio AnonBuffer UAF
CVE-2026-89942
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI6.9MEDIUM
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: buffer: Fix potential use-after-free in anonymous buffer release An anonymous buffer handle holds a reference to the underlying IIO device. The reference is dropped in the buffer handle's release function. If the device has been removed, either through unbind or hot-unplug, the buffer handle might hold the last reference. The release function takes the mutex for the buffer using a guard, which means the unlock happens after all the code in the function, including `iio_device_put()`. If the anonymous buffer holds the last reference this might free both the IIO device and the buffer, which contains the mutex, leading to use-after-free when the mutex is unlocked. Fix this by using a scoped guard just around the buffer dmabuf list access, making sure the mutex is unlocked before releasing the IIO device. Version 10 of the patch that introduced this issue used this exact scheme of first unlocking and then dropping the reference [1]. During review it was suggested to use a guard instead, and version 11 made that change [2].
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A local user with access to an IIO device node can trigger a use-after-free by closing an anonymous buffer handle after the underlying device has been removed (via unbind or hot-unplug). The freed mutex unlock corrupts kernel heap memory, potentially leading to privilege escalation or a kernel crash. Products with IIO sensor hardware and local user access are at risk.
Vulnerability analysis
When an anonymous IIO buffer handle is closed, the cleanup path holds a lock on the buffer while also dropping the last reference to the underlying device. If the device has already been removed, the buffer handle may hold the final reference. Dropping it then frees the buffer and its lock. The cleanup code later tries to release that already-freed lock, corrupting kernel memory. The fix shortens the locked region so the lock is released before the device reference is dropped, preventing the freed access. Any local user who can open an IIO device buffer can reach this, but triggering it requires timing the buffer close against device removal through unbind or hot-unplug.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.12 | 6.11 | 6.12.110 | ab53077511cd |
| 7.2 | 6.11 | 7.2.5 | 6d4bdbf7bad6 |
| mainline | 6.11 | 7.3-rc1 | 6288b593e76e |
| 6.18 | 6.11 | 6.18.51 | f1f8f0e8e0af |
| cip/6.12 | 6.11 | 6.12.111-cip32 | ab53077511cd |