7.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-72144
platform/x86: dell-laptop: fix missing cleanups in init error path
Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: platform/x86: dell-laptop: fix missing cleanups in init error path dell_init() initializes several resources after dell_setup_rfkill(), including the optional touchpad LED, keyboard backlight LED, battery hook, debugfs directory and dell-laptop notifier. If a later LED or backlight registration fails, the error path only tears down the battery hook and rfkill resources. This leaves the notifier, debugfs directory, keyboard backlight LED and optional touchpad LED registered after dell_init() returns an error. Add the missing cleanup calls before tearing down rfkill.

INFO

Published Date :

Aug. 15, 2026, 6:21 a.m.

Last Modified :

Aug. 17, 2026, 6:18 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

No

Source :

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-72144 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Linux linux_kernel
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 HIGH 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
Apply Linux kernel updates to address resource cleanup issues in the dell-laptop driver.
  • Update the Linux kernel to a version with the fix.
  • Verify the dell-laptop driver functions correctly.
  • Test the system's stability after the update.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-72144 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-72144 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-72144 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-72144 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • CVE Modified by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    Aug. 17, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Changed Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': 'e4908b3bed755f73870416b971e162a8d0ef0aef', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '6bd76d5421a72d2526c9be8f01f55bee960f899f', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '1e41ca4a7fba2e680d6950e9511245255fffa46c', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': 'b351e082711d12f075a36a6cd67709693689315f', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '6e9cab2247e5b243ae2d907ce7c948a8a9c8d61a', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/platform/x86/dell/dell-laptop.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '2.6.37'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '2.6.37', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.148', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.97', '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-rc1', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/platform/x86/dell/dell-laptop.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': 'e4908b3bed755f73870416b971e162a8d0ef0aef', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '6bd76d5421a72d2526c9be8f01f55bee960f899f', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '1e41ca4a7fba2e680d6950e9511245255fffa46c', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': 'b351e082711d12f075a36a6cd67709693689315f', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '6e9cab2247e5b243ae2d907ce7c948a8a9c8d61a', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/platform/x86/dell/dell-laptop.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '2.6.37'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '2.6.37', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.148', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.97', '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/platform/x86/dell/dell-laptop.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}]
  • New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    Aug. 15, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': 'e4908b3bed755f73870416b971e162a8d0ef0aef', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '6bd76d5421a72d2526c9be8f01f55bee960f899f', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '1e41ca4a7fba2e680d6950e9511245255fffa46c', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': 'b351e082711d12f075a36a6cd67709693689315f', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '037accfa14b28ecf49d9060063929c4b4cde373f', 'lessThan': '6e9cab2247e5b243ae2d907ce7c948a8a9c8d61a', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/platform/x86/dell/dell-laptop.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '2.6.37'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '2.6.37', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.148', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.97', '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-rc1', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/platform/x86/dell/dell-laptop.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}]
    Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: platform/x86: dell-laptop: fix missing cleanups in init error path dell_init() initializes several resources after dell_setup_rfkill(), including the optional touchpad LED, keyboard backlight LED, battery hook, debugfs directory and dell-laptop notifier. If a later LED or backlight registration fails, the error path only tears down the battery hook and rfkill resources. This leaves the notifier, debugfs directory, keyboard backlight LED and optional touchpad LED registered after dell_init() returns an error. Add the missing cleanup calls before tearing down rfkill.
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e41ca4a7fba2e680d6950e9511245255fffa46c
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bd76d5421a72d2526c9be8f01f55bee960f899f
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e9cab2247e5b243ae2d907ce7c948a8a9c8d61a
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b351e082711d12f075a36a6cd67709693689315f
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4908b3bed755f73870416b971e162a8d0ef0aef
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.