{"id":"CVE-2026-68178","summary":"misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open","details":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmisc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open\n\nmisc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(),\nwhich pins file_operations::owner before replacing the file's f_op.  The\nNSM misc device leaves nsm_dev_fops.owner unset, so opening /dev/nsm does\nnot take a module reference on the nsm driver.\n\nIf the driver is built as a module, an open file descriptor can therefore\nsurvive rmmod of the module that provides its ioctl callbacks.  A later\nioctl through that descriptor can call into unloaded module text.\n\nSet nsm_dev_fops.owner to THIS_MODULE so the misc core holds the module\nwhile any /dev/nsm file descriptor is open, matching the lifetime\nexpectation for the installed file operations.","modified":"2026-08-18T03:31:02.951030101Z","published":"2026-08-10T11:59:49.344Z","database_specific":{"osv_generated_from":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/68xxx/CVE-2026-68178.json","cna_assigner":"Linux"},"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/68xxx/CVE-2026-68178.json"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68178"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"}],"affected":[{"ranges":[{"type":"GIT","repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","events":[{"introduced":"b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749"},{"fixed":"1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77"},{"fixed":"1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f"},{"fixed":"9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920"},{"fixed":"3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9"}]}],"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-68178.json"}},{"package":{"name":"Kernel","ecosystem":"Linux"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.8.0"},{"fixed":"6.12.101"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.13.0"},{"fixed":"6.18.42"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.19.0"},{"fixed":"7.1.6"}]}],"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-68178.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"}]}