CVE-2026-72391
net: phy: sfp: free mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phy: sfp: free mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create() allocates the I2C MDIO bus with mdio_i2c_alloc(), a plain (non-devm) allocation, and registers it. sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy() only unregisters the bus and clears sfp->i2c_mii without calling mdiobus_free(). As the only reference to the bus is then cleared, the struct mii_bus is leaked. This is hit whenever a copper/RollBall SFP module that instantiated an MDIO bus is removed: sfp_sm_main() takes the global teardown path and calls sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy(). sfp_cleanup(), on driver unbind, frees sfp->i2c_mii directly, which is why the leak only triggered on module hot-removal and not on unbind. Free the bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy() to match the allocation done in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create().
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 15, 2026, 6:22 a.m.
Last Modified :
Aug. 17, 2026, 6:19 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
- Free the mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy.
- Ensure sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy matches allocation in create.
- Apply the Linux kernel patch for net: phy: sfp.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-72391.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-72391 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-2026-72391
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-2026-72391 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-72391 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 Changed Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '92dd9a522f01ef57f633a8c1953cf6d48ef2bcd5', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': 'd2c37f26d1a37f8177be5f354537f8ee3ec31cc2', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '3183b6f5510c876a1c4b4a6bdc3d0ad8940fe742', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '86d379fcf1b79bdf4bc2ac891297f30f63d041d8', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '2381bf3f484e8e4fd89a225445872ec14e036ab5', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '8f31efff9206f9f0adb853cad6916086aac4d5ef', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/phy/sfp.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '6.1'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '6.1', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.145', '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-rc2', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/phy/sfp.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '92dd9a522f01ef57f633a8c1953cf6d48ef2bcd5', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': 'd2c37f26d1a37f8177be5f354537f8ee3ec31cc2', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '3183b6f5510c876a1c4b4a6bdc3d0ad8940fe742', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '86d379fcf1b79bdf4bc2ac891297f30f63d041d8', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '2381bf3f484e8e4fd89a225445872ec14e036ab5', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '8f31efff9206f9f0adb853cad6916086aac4d5ef', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/phy/sfp.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '6.1'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '6.1', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.145', '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/net/phy/sfp.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': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '92dd9a522f01ef57f633a8c1953cf6d48ef2bcd5', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': 'd2c37f26d1a37f8177be5f354537f8ee3ec31cc2', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '3183b6f5510c876a1c4b4a6bdc3d0ad8940fe742', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '86d379fcf1b79bdf4bc2ac891297f30f63d041d8', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '2381bf3f484e8e4fd89a225445872ec14e036ab5', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': 'e85b1347ace677c3822c12d9332dfaaffe594da6', 'lessThan': '8f31efff9206f9f0adb853cad6916086aac4d5ef', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/phy/sfp.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '6.1'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '6.1', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.145', '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-rc2', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['drivers/net/phy/sfp.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phy: sfp: free mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create() allocates the I2C MDIO bus with mdio_i2c_alloc(), a plain (non-devm) allocation, and registers it. sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy() only unregisters the bus and clears sfp->i2c_mii without calling mdiobus_free(). As the only reference to the bus is then cleared, the struct mii_bus is leaked. This is hit whenever a copper/RollBall SFP module that instantiated an MDIO bus is removed: sfp_sm_main() takes the global teardown path and calls sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy(). sfp_cleanup(), on driver unbind, frees sfp->i2c_mii directly, which is why the leak only triggered on module hot-removal and not on unbind. Free the bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy() to match the allocation done in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create(). Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2381bf3f484e8e4fd89a225445872ec14e036ab5 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3183b6f5510c876a1c4b4a6bdc3d0ad8940fe742 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86d379fcf1b79bdf4bc2ac891297f30f63d041d8 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f31efff9206f9f0adb853cad6916086aac4d5ef Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92dd9a522f01ef57f633a8c1953cf6d48ef2bcd5 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d2c37f26d1a37f8177be5f354537f8ee3ec31cc2