VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026Updated 21 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98657: Linux kernel · iio: proximity: pulsedlight: fix iio_device left registered on PM setup failure

Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-98657

Not known to be exploited · fixed in e462b47b9637b8c0285f4a38b5af9a322847d164 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

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 5% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in e462b47b9637b8c0285f4a38b5af9a322847d164, 20ebd7f4e35c0a737f011bc83aeb0cdd37507648, 06fa13c53442257b94ea1519555ceddaaea57e0d +2

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Oct 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.

ghsa-26f7-hh7p-wmqm

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 4ac4e086fd8c59e6b69089e6f7605500b63a6d17, < e462b47b9637b8c0285f4a38b5af9a322847d164	Fixed in e462b47b9637b8c0285f4a38b5af9a322847d164
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 4ac4e086fd8c59e6b69089e6f7605500b63a6d17, < 20ebd7f4e35c0a737f011bc83aeb0cdd37507648	Fixed in 20ebd7f4e35c0a737f011bc83aeb0cdd37507648
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 4ac4e086fd8c59e6b69089e6f7605500b63a6d17, < 06fa13c53442257b94ea1519555ceddaaea57e0d	Fixed in 06fa13c53442257b94ea1519555ceddaaea57e0d
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 4ac4e086fd8c59e6b69089e6f7605500b63a6d17, < 4daa9ca557b4b98ae1ad38a6d1deaa3e31eb8edf	Fixed in 4daa9ca557b4b98ae1ad38a6d1deaa3e31eb8edf
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 4ac4e086fd8c59e6b69089e6f7605500b63a6d17, < 2c8211eef98929c5188f8c2224e83b9a63b41bd1	Fixed in 2c8211eef98929c5188f8c2224e83b9a63b41bd1
LinuxLinux	Affected =4.5	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to properly unregister the iio device on power management setup failure during probe. Users should update to the patched kernel version containing this fix. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's iio proximity pulsedlight driver was fixed. The issue involved the iio_device remaining registered in the system after a power management setup failure during device probe, leading to sysfs and character device nodes pointing to freed memory. This could cause use-after-free conditions. The fix unregisters the iio device properly on error to prevent stale references.

Impact

This vulnerability results in stale sysfs and character device nodes pointing to freed memory, which can cause use-after-free conditions. This may lead to system instability or potential security issues if an attacker can interact with these stale nodes. However, no known exploits are reported in the wild.

Summary

The Linux kernel's iio proximity pulsedlight driver had a flaw where pm_runtime_set_active() failure in probe() led to an incomplete cleanup sequence. Specifically, after iio_device_register() succeeded, an error path did not unregister the device, leaving sysfs and chardev nodes active but referencing freed memory. The patch adds an error path to unregister the iio device before cleaning up the triggered buffer, aligning with the proper teardown order used elsewhere.

References

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