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CVE-2026-72040

Status: ReceivedUnscored—

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

ipmi: fix refcount leak in i_ipmi_request()

When a caller provides a `supplied_recv` message to i_ipmi_request(), the function increments the user's `nr_msgs` reference count. If an error occurs later, the out_err cleanup path only frees the recv_msg if the function allocated it itself (i.e., !supplied_recv). In the supplied_recv case the cleanup is skipped, leaving the reference count elevated. The caller ipmi_request_supply_msgs() does not release the supplied_recv on error, so the reference is permanently leaked.

Fix this by explicitly reverting the reference count operations when a supplied recv_msg with a valid user pointer is present in the error path: decrement nr_msgs and drop the user's kref.

CVSS

NVD hasn't assigned a CVSS score to this CVE (common since the April 2026 policy change).

Exploitation probability (EPSS)

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).

Affected technologies (1)

⚠ AI-inferred from the description — NVD hasn't analyzed this CVE yet, these aren't verified CPEs.

Linux — Linux KernelAI

References

Raw JSON (NVD)

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{
  "id": "CVE-2026-72040",
  "cveTags": [],
  "metrics": {},
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "f63723ca7d7623f9dae1990973cd158671f03c56",
              "lessThan": "122ca6b2af714e114c9b872a48372ace31a9ab1f",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "348121b29594d42d1635648fd3ed31dfa25351d5",
              "lessThan": "9409e18ffe7378d202efe1cf69989df9f67b0369",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "53d6e403affbf6df2c859a0ea00ccfc1e72090ca",
              "lessThan": "e2a3b77df6aef031455dd83ea8ed4344b7dca1f9",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "b52da4054ee0bf9ecb44996f2c83236ff50b3812",
              "lessThan": "f5c5065963024390ddad51bd455d1adc710de575",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "b52da4054ee0bf9ecb44996f2c83236ff50b3812",
              "lessThan": "0fd23994ec8c5436d9f0b50848deb87ed933e6b3",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "b52da4054ee0bf9ecb44996f2c83236ff50b3812",
              "lessThan": "a3f3859cecacb64f18fd446271ece9a3b3f2d4de",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0ed73be9a2547ffb9b5c1d879ad9bfab73d920b5",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.1.157",
              "lessThan": "6.1.184",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.6.113",
              "lessThan": "6.6.148",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.12.54",
              "lessThan": "6.12.101",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.17.4",
              "lessThan": "6.18",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
        },
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.18"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "6.18",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.1.184",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.6.148",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.12.101",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.40",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.1.5",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "affected"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "published": "2026-08-15T06:21:13.123",
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0fd23994ec8c5436d9f0b50848deb87ed933e6b3",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/122ca6b2af714e114c9b872a48372ace31a9ab1f",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9409e18ffe7378d202efe1cf69989df9f67b0369",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3f3859cecacb64f18fd446271ece9a3b3f2d4de",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2a3b77df6aef031455dd83ea8ed4344b7dca1f9",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f5c5065963024390ddad51bd455d1adc710de575",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ],
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nipmi: fix refcount leak in i_ipmi_request()\n\nWhen a caller provides a `supplied_recv` message to i_ipmi_request(),\nthe function increments the user's `nr_msgs` reference count. If an\nerror occurs later, the out_err cleanup path only frees the recv_msg\nif the function allocated it itself (i.e., !supplied_recv). In the\nsupplied_recv case the cleanup is skipped, leaving the reference count\nelevated. The caller ipmi_request_supply_msgs() does not release the\nsupplied_recv on error, so the reference is permanently leaked.\n\nFix this by explicitly reverting the reference count operations when a\nsupplied recv_msg with a valid user pointer is present in the error\npath: decrement nr_msgs and drop the user's kref."
    }
  ],
  "lastModified": "2026-08-23T13:16:37.900",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}