Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
dmaengine: Fix device kref underflow in dma_chan_put()
dma_chan_get() takes chan->device->ref only on the slow path:
/* no kref on fast path */ if (chan->client_count) { __module_get(owner); chan->client_count++; return 0; } if (!try_module_get(owner)) return -ENODEV; if (!dma_device_get(chan->device)) { // calls kref_get_unless_zero()
dma_chan_put() drops the ref unconditionally, so every fast-path get/put pair drops one extra device reference.
The bug fires when two conditions hold together: a non-private provider has a persistent client holding chan->client_count > 0 and another client cycles dmaengine_get()/dmaengine_put(). When the kref hits zero, the subsequent dma_find_channel() returns NULL even though the provider module is still loaded.
Fix this by dropping device->ref only on the last put, matching the single slow-path get.
Metrics
No CVSS score has been published yet.
Affected software
Source: the vendor's advisory (CNA). NVD analysis pending.
No affected versions have been published.
Timeline
- Published
- Oct 6, 2026
- Last modified
- Oct 19, 2026
- NVD status
- Received