UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89896: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: cedrus: fix memory leak in cedrusinitctrls() In cedrusinitctrls(), the V4L2 control handler is initialized before allocating memory for ctx->ctrls. If this allocation fails, the function returns -ENOMEM without freeing the previously allocated handler resources, leading to a memory leak. Fix this by calling v4l2ctrlhandlerfree() on the ctx->ctrls allocation failure path. The bug was first flagged by an experimental analysis tool we are developing for kernel memory-management bugs while analyzing v6.13-rc1. The tool is still under development and is not yet publicly available. Manual inspection confirms that the bug is still present in v7.1.1. An x8664 allyesconfig build showed no new warnings. As we do not have an Allwinner SoC or board with a Cedrus VPU available to test with, no runtime testing was able to be performed.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1119.126~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1125.134~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1124.133~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1120.130~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-202.212~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1113.117~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1114.120~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-197.207~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1070.72~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1116.122~20.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1113.117~20.04.2 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-202.212 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-awsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1119.126 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-azureto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1125.134 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-azure-fdeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1124.133 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gcpto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1120.130 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gketo a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1115.121 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gkeopto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1102.110 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-ibmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1113.117 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-intel-iotgto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1114.120 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-kvmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1111.116 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-lowlatencyto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-197.207 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-nvidiato a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1114.115 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegrato a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1070.72 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1059.59 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oracleto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1116.122 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-bluefieldto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1103.105 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1111.115 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-realtimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1118.127 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-aws-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1119.126+fips1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-azure-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1125.134+fips1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-202.212+fips1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 5.15.0-1120.130+fips1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-awsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.17 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gcpto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-ibmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oracleto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.16 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-riscvto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1 - Compensating control
In cedrus_init_ctrls(), call v4l2_ctrl_handler_free() on the ctx->ctrls allocation failure path before returning -ENOMEM, to free the previously allocated V4L2 control handler resources.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What systems are realistically exposed to this issue?
Systems running one of the listed Ubuntu kernel packages may be affected when the Cedrus media driver is used. The issue is relevant to hardware using an Allwinner Cedrus VPU; the provided data does not establish runtime impact on any specific board.
What condition triggers the memory leak?
The leak occurs when cedrus_init_ctrls() initializes the V4L2 control handler successfully but allocation of ctx->ctrls subsequently fails. The failure path returns -ENOMEM without releasing the handler resources.
How can I determine whether my kernel contains the vulnerable code?
The issue was manually confirmed as present in upstream Linux v7.1.1. The supplied upstream fix is commit 9df2fbe563194da1967a5db083442186c1323efe; comparing your kernel source or applied patches against that fix can determine whether the cleanup is present.