misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open
misc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(),
which pins file_operations::owner before replacing the file's f_op. The
NSM misc device leaves nsm_dev_fops.owner unset, so opening /dev/nsm does
not take a module reference on the nsm driver.
If the driver is built as a module, an open file descriptor can therefore
survive rmmod of the module that provides its ioctl callbacks. A later
ioctl through that descriptor can call into unloaded module text.
Set nsm_dev_fops.owner to THIS_MODULE so the misc core holds the module
while any /dev/nsm file descriptor is open, matching the lifetime
expectation for the installed file operations.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
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No data.
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment is a feature of OpenCVE that uses AI to automatically link vendors and products to CVEs. Learn more on GitHub.
| Vendors | Products |
|---|---|
|
Linux
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Linux Kernel
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Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Weaknesses | CWE-582 |
Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open misc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(), which pins file_operations::owner before replacing the file's f_op. The NSM misc device leaves nsm_dev_fops.owner unset, so opening /dev/nsm does not take a module reference on the nsm driver. If the driver is built as a module, an open file descriptor can therefore survive rmmod of the module that provides its ioctl callbacks. A later ioctl through that descriptor can call into unloaded module text. Set nsm_dev_fops.owner to THIS_MODULE so the misc core holds the module while any /dev/nsm file descriptor is open, matching the lifetime expectation for the installed file operations. | |
| Title | misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-08-10T11:59:49.344Z
Reserved: 2026-07-30T09:28:09.373Z
Link: CVE-2026-68178
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
No data.
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-08-10T18:45:17Z
No weakness.