CVE-2026-68178

Last refreshed2026-10-17

Status: UPDATED | Advisory ID: CVE-2026-68178

Key Details

CVE	CVE-2026-68178
CVSS Score / Version	7.8 (High) / CVSS v3.1
Updated	2026-10-16
CVSS Vector	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
CVSS Prose	attack vector is local; attack complexity is low; privileges required is low; user interaction is none; scope is unchanged; confidentiality impact is high; integrity impact is high; availability impact is high.
Affected products	Linux Kernel

Vendor	Product	Affected Versions	Patch Status
Linux	Linux Kernel

Vendor

Product

Affected Versions

Patch Status

Linux

Linux Kernel

Subsystems	OT Supporting Infrastructure
Sectors	All Sectors

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

misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open

misc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(),

which pins file_operations::owner before replacing the file's f_op. The

NSM misc device leaves nsm_dev_fops.owner unset, so opening /dev/nsm does

not take a module reference on the nsm driver.

If the driver is built as a module, an open file descriptor can therefore

survive rmmod of the module that provides its ioctl callbacks. A later

ioctl through that descriptor can call into unloaded module text.

Set nsm_dev_fops.owner to THIS_MODULE so the misc core holds the module

while any /dev/nsm file descriptor is open, matching the lifetime

expectation for the installed file operations. (NVD)

Monitor Linux's web page for any future patch releases.

Source	Reference
NVD	https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68178
CVE	https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68178

Source

Reference

NVD

CVE