CVE-2026-72048

unscored 0.2% exploit odds No fix listed Other OS & kernel

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ieee802154: ca8210: fix cas_ctl leak on spi_async failure ca8210_spi_transfer() allocates cas_ctl with kzalloc_obj(GFP_ATOMIC) and relies entirely on the SPI completion callback ca8210_spi_transfer_complete() to free it. The spi_async() API only invokes the completion callback on successful submission. On failure it returns a negative error code without ever queuing the callback, which leaves cas_ctl and its embedded spi_message and spi_transfer orphaned. Every kfree(cas_ctl) in the driver is inside the completion callback, so there is no other reclamation path. ca8210_spi_transfer() is called from ca8210_spi_exchange(), the interrupt handler ca8210_interrupt_handler(), and from the retry path inside the completion callback itself. The exchange and interrupt handler paths loop on -EBUSY, so under sustained SPI bus contention every retry iteration leaks a fresh cas_ctl (~600 bytes per occurrence). Fix it by freeing cas_ctl on the spi_async() error path. While here, correct the misleading error string: the function calls spi_async(), not spi_sync().

At a glance

Exploit odds: 0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Fix: No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.