CVE-2026-72391

net: phy: sfp: free mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy

Published Aug 15, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: phy: sfp: free mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy

sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create() allocates the I2C MDIO bus with mdio_i2c_alloc(),
a plain (non-devm) allocation, and registers it. sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy()
only unregisters the bus and clears sfp->i2c_mii without calling
mdiobus_free(). As the only reference to the bus is then cleared, the
struct mii_bus is leaked.

This is hit whenever a copper/RollBall SFP module that instantiated an MDIO
bus is removed: sfp_sm_main() takes the global teardown path and calls
sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy(). sfp_cleanup(), on driver unbind, frees
sfp->i2c_mii directly, which is why the leak only triggered on module
hot-removal and not on unbind.

Free the bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy() to match the allocation done in
sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create().

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8887-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8889-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8887-2 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-2 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8887-3 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8917-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8918-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9003-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9024-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9025-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9026-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9040-1 Linux kernel (Low Latency NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9043-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9066-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9091-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA Tegra) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-401
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-772
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-401
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phy: sfp: free mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create() allocates the I2C MDIO bus with mdio_i2c_alloc(), a plain (non-devm) allocation, and registers it. sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy() only unregisters the bus and clears sfp->i2c_mii without calling mdiobus_free(). As the only reference to the bus is then cleared, the struct mii_bus is leaked. This is hit whenever a copper/RollBall SFP module that instantiated an MDIO bus is removed: sfp_sm_main() takes the global teardown path and calls sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy(). sfp_cleanup(), on driver unbind, frees sfp->i2c_mii directly, which is why the leak only triggered on module hot-removal and not on unbind. Free the bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy() to match the allocation done in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_create().
Title net: phy: sfp: free mii_bus in sfp_i2c_mdiobus_destroy
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Aug 17, 2026, 5:13 AM
Reserved
Aug 9, 2026, 3:40 AM
Status
Received
Published
Aug 15, 2026, 6:22 AM
Modified
Aug 17, 2026, 6:19 AM
Severity
Low
Public date
Aug 15, 2026, 12:00 AM