In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mfd: sm501: Fix reference leak on failed device registration
When platform_device_register() fails in sm501_register_device(), the
embedded struct device in pdev has already been initialized by
device_initialize(), but the failure path only reports the error and
returns without dropping the device reference for the current platform
device:
sm501_register_device()
-> platform_device_register(pdev)
-> device_initialize(&pdev->dev)
-> setup_pdev_dma_masks(pdev)
-> platform_device_add(pdev)
This leads to a reference leak when platform_device_register() fails.
Fix this by calling platform_device_put() before returning the error.
The issue was identified by a static analysis tool I developed and
confirmed by manual review.
CVE-2026-72240
NONE
EPSS 0.21%
Updated Aug 17, 2026
Linux
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0baf9d43a7b7b43df2900bd8656e75b725028b6e
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/16a42c88c4667fa0bd944e438a667e059551f1f1
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ff8156fd500d54c61430b6834137fd0a07047ce
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/760a1029692f1d788dc11aa636a3bf432e58b240
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c2f0b42fc252e1bf1c7746447091a468e784ca1
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3e340d506c1036a747fb0972aebf1063f7ef30e
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bbb1ecaed4ed7680e63d3a0f143f03de32de5d6e
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2dac91380a10e9e8d5883fb73ce9d9b390a629c
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
CVE Details
CVE ID
CVE-2026-72240
Published Date
Aug 15, 2026
Vendor
Linux
Severity
NONE
Exploit Prediction (EPSS)
Probability of Exploit
0.21%
Likelihood of exploitation in next 30 days
Percentile:
11.2th percentile (higher than 11.2% of all CVEs)
Standard patching cycle
Impact
Minimal impact
Source
View Advisory