Answer in brief
CVE-2026-68179 records a High severity (CVSS 8.4) vulnerability in misc: nsm: only unlock nsm_dev on post-lock error paths. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 8.4. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | >=b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 <4aa3f7d48e91eb74a363c1b4d7dbdd28f5b341fb || >=b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 <8f068342096b027181b168d91fef7ac7a2c64b25 || >=b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 <f318f5a872cb9096536e759b23ae5c9873bb80ed || >=b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 <ce1fed11d18e163baf7f875152a33bf80f625c1a | 4aa3f7d48e91eb74a363c1b4d7dbdd28f5b341fb, 8f068342096b027181b168d91fef7ac7a2c64b25, f318f5a872cb9096536e759b23ae5c9873bb80ed, ce1fed11d18e163baf7f875152a33bf80f625c1a |
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | 6.8 | Not reported |
Published upstream
Aug 10, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Oct 19, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 10, 2026
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.
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.