CVE-2026-68180

Technical Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

intel_th: fix MSC output device reference leak

intel_th_output_open() looks up the output device with

bus_find_device_by_devt(), which returns the device with a reference that

must be dropped after use.

commit 95fc36a234da ("intel_th: fix device leak on output open()")

attempted to drop the reference from intel_th_output_release(). However,

a successful open replaces file->f_op with the output driver file

operations before returning, so close runs the output driver release

callback instead.

For MSC outputs, close runs intel_th_msc_release(), which only removes

the per-file iterator and does not drop the device reference taken by

intel_th_output_open(). Consequently, every successful MSC output open

leaks one device reference.

Drop the device reference from intel_th_msc_release(), which is the

release path actually used for MSC output files. Remove the now-unused

intel_th_output_release() callback from intel_th_out

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

References