CVE-2026-68179: misc: nsm: only unlock nsm_dev on post-lock error paths
Vendor fix available · Affected: Linux · Exploitation: unlikely (under 1%)
Not in CyberSIXT coverage yet: no article names this CVE. This page shows the public record.
Higher than 7% of scored CVEs
DescriptionCVE.org
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: misc: nsm: only unlock nsm_dev on post-lock error paths nsm_dev_ioctl() jumps to the common out label even when the initial copy_from_user() fails before nsm->lock has been taken. The error path then blindly unlocks a mutex that was never acquired. This issue was found by our static analysis tool and then manually reviewed against the current tree. The grounded PoC kept the miscdevice ioctl entry and the pre-lock copy_from_user(&raw, argp, _IOC_SIZE(cmd)) failure path by issuing NSM_IOCTL_RAW with an invalid user pointer. That failure reaches the shared out label before mutex_lock(&nsm->lock). Lockdep reported: WARNING: bad unlock balance detected! exploit/193 is trying to release lock (&global_nsm.lock) at: nsm_dev_ioctl+0x5f/0xcf [vuln_msv] but there are no more locks to release! no locks held by exploit/193. Return immediately on the pre-lock copy_from_user() failure and keep the common unlock label for the post-lock paths only.
Affected products2
From the CVE record. A product or version that is not listed is unknown, not unaffected.
- Linux · LinuxVersions not stated
- Linux · Linux6.8
On the Atlas
Every published CVE is on the CyberSIXT Atlas, grouped by weakness, vendor and month.
- Exploitation
- Unlikely (under 1%). EPSS under 1%, or no score yet.
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Public check
- No public nuclei template
- Vendor
- Linux
- Published
- August 2026
CoverageNo articles yet
No CyberSIXT article names CVE-2026-68179 yet, so there is no coverage timeline, action brief or change log for it. Everything on this page comes from the public CVE record, CISA KEV, EPSS and the nuclei template index. Search the archive or see the CVEs in the news.
References
- NVD entrynvd.nist.gov
- CVE recordcve.org
- Weakness CWE-675cwe.mitre.org
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/4aa3f7d48e91eb74a363c1b4d7dbdd28f5b341fbgit.kernel.org
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f068342096b027181b168d91fef7ac7a2c64b25git.kernel.org
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/f318f5a872cb9096536e759b23ae5c9873bb80edgit.kernel.org
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce1fed11d18e163baf7f875152a33bf80f625c1agit.kernel.org