UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89881: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-aws vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: rtl2832sdr: use vb2videounregisterdevice() on remove to fix DMA leak rtl2832sdrremove() runs on USB disconnect and clears dev->udev to NULL before any pending streaming teardown has run. When user space later closes its file descriptor, vb2 calls rtl2832sdrstopstreaming() which in turn calls rtl2832sdrfreestreambufs(). That helper releases each coherent buffer with: usbfreecoherent(dev->udev, dev->bufsize, dev->buflist[dev->bufnum], dev->dmaaddr[dev->bufnum]); usbfreecoherent() returns immediately when its dev argument is NULL, so every DMA stream buffer that was live at disconnect is silently leaked. The URBs allocated in rtl2832sdrallocurbs() outlive the device for the same reason. The rtl2832sdr driver uses vb2foprelease() in its fileoperations, so replace videounregisterdevice(&dev->vdev) with vb2videounregisterdevice(&dev->vdev) and move it before clearing dev->udev. vb2videounregisterdevice() releases the vb2 queue, which synchronously runs rtl2832sdrstopstreaming() if streaming is active, so URBs and coherent DMA stream buffers are freed while dev->udev is still valid. vb2videounregisterdevice() locks vdev->queue->lock (vbqueuelock) internally, and stopstreaming() locks v4l2lock, so the previous outer mutexlock(&dev->vbqueuelock) / mutexlock(&dev->v4l2lock) pair around the unregister sequence would self-deadlock and has been removed. A short v4l2lock critical section around dev->udev = NULL remains so any ioctl path that still holds the file descriptor sees coherent state. Issue identified by automated review of the INV-003 series at https://sashiko.dev/
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-aws-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1119.126~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1125.134~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1124.133~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1120.130~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-202.212~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1113.117~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1114.120~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-197.207~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1070.72~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1116.122~20.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1113.117~20.04.2 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-202.212 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-awsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1119.126 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azureto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1125.134 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-fdeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1124.133 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcpto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1120.130 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gketo a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1115.121 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gkeopto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1102.110 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-ibmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1113.117 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-intel-iotgto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1114.120 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-kvmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1111.116 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-lowlatencyto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-197.207 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidiato a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1114.115 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegrato a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1070.72 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1059.59 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-oracleto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1116.122 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-bluefieldto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.105 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1111.115 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-realtimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1118.127 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-aws-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1119.126+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1125.134+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-202.212+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcp-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1120.130+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-awsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.17 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcpto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-ibmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-oracleto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.16 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-riscvto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which systems are exposed to the DMA leak?
Systems using the rtl2832_sdr driver are exposed when an RTL2832 SDR USB device is disconnected while streaming is active and a userspace file descriptor remains open. The issue affects the listed Ubuntu Linux kernel package variants.
What operational workaround is available if an updated kernel cannot be deployed immediately?
Stop streaming and close the userspace file descriptor before disconnecting the USB device. The leak occurs when disconnect clears the USB device pointer before later streaming teardown runs.
How can I determine whether this condition may have occurred?
Review whether an RTL2832 SDR device was unplugged during an active stream while the application still held its device file descriptor open. In that sequence, coherent DMA stream buffers and allocated URBs can remain unreleased.
What does the resolved change do?
It uses vb2_video_unregister_device() before clearing the USB device pointer. This synchronously releases the vb2 queue and stops active streaming, allowing URBs and coherent DMA buffers to be freed while the USB device is still available.