VulnerabilityPublished 16 Sep 2026Updated 5 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-89976: Linux kernel · accel/ethosu: fix job completion fence cleanup

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 9% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-5.5 – 7.0.0-38.38 23 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-aws`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1014.14 15 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1017.17 15 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fde`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1016.16 9 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcp`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1014.14 13 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gke`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1002.3 – 7.0.0-1008.9 6 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix for this vulnerability has been implemented in the Linux kernel. Users should apply the official kernel updates that include the patch for CVE-2026-89976 to ensure proper fence cleanup in the accel/ethosu driver. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's accel/ethosu component was fixed related to improper cleanup of job completion fences in ethosu_ioctl_submit_job(). The flaw involved allocation of a done_fence before validating buffer handles, leading to potential memory leaks and improper fence reference counting during error handling and cleanup. The fix ensures proper release of the done_fence and distinguishes initialized fences from raw allocations to prevent resource leaks.

Impact

This vulnerability could lead to resource leaks in the Linux kernel's ethosu driver due to improper fence cleanup and reference counting. While the description does not specify direct exploitation consequences such as privilege escalation or denial of service, resource leaks in kernel components can degrade system stability or reliability over time.

Summary

The Linux kernel's accel/ethosu driver had a vulnerability where ethosu_ioctl_submit_job() allocated a done_fence before validating buffer handles. If errors occurred after allocation, ethosu_job_err_cleanup() freed the job but leaked the uninitialized fence. Additionally, a scheduler dependency error allowed ethosu_job_run() to return before dma_fence_init() was called, causing normal cleanup to pass a zeroed refcount to dma_fence_put(). The patch releases done_fence in the common cleanup path and uses dma_fence_was_initialized() to differentiate initialized fences from raw allocations, preventing fence leaks and reference count errors.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 24 Oct 2026, 20:36 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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