UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98197: High severity ubuntu/linux vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwmon: (w83791d) remove fan/pwm 4-5 sysfs group on remove When the fan/pwm 4-5 pins are not used as GPIO, w83791dprobe() creates the w83791dgroupfanpwm45 sysfs group on the I2C client device. The probe error path removes this group when a later initialization step fails, but the normal remove path only removes w83791dgroup. As a result, the optional fan/pwm 4-5 sysfs files can remain after the driver is unbound. The callbacks associated with these files access the driver data, which is devm allocated and released after driver unbind. Leaving the sysfs files behind can therefore result in accesses to stale driver data. Remove w83791dgroupfanpwm45 during normal teardown as well. This issue was found by manual code inspection.
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-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 - Compensating control
Remove the w83791d_group_fanpwm45 sysfs group during the w83791d driver's normal teardown, before the devm-allocated driver data is released.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which systems are exposed to this issue?
Systems using the w83791d hardware-monitoring driver are exposed when fan/PWM pins 4-5 are configured for their fan/PWM function rather than as GPIO. The affected Ubuntu kernel package families listed are linux, linux-fips, linux-aws, linux-azure, linux-gcp, and their listed FIPS variants.
What must happen for stale driver data to be accessed?
The optional fan/PWM 4-5 sysfs group must have been created, and the w83791d driver must subsequently be unbound. The leftover sysfs callbacks can then access driver data that was released during unbind.
Are default configurations necessarily affected?
No. The optional sysfs files are created only when fan/PWM pins 4-5 are not used as GPIO, so systems using those pins as GPIO do not create the affected group.
How can I check whether a system is in the affected state?
Check whether the w83791d driver was unbound while its optional fan/PWM 4-5 sysfs files remained present on the associated I2C client device. Their presence after driver unbind indicates the stale sysfs-group condition described.