Bug 2516615 (CVE-2026-72482)

Summary: CVE-2026-72482 kernel: gpib: fix double decrement of descriptor_busy in command_ioctl()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the `gpib` component of the Linux kernel. A double decrement of a descriptor counter within the `command_ioctl()` function can lead to a counter underflow. This re-enables a use-after-free vulnerability, where a concurrently active descriptor can be prematurely freed. This could result in system instability, a denial of service, or potentially allow for arbitrary code execution.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 06:22:01 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

gpib: fix double decrement of descriptor_busy in command_ioctl()

commit d1857f8296dc ("gpib: fix use-after-free in IO ioctl handlers")
introduced a descriptor_busy reference counter to pin struct
gpib_descriptor across IO ioctl operations.  In command_ioctl(), the
error path inside the loop decrements descriptor_busy and breaks, but
execution then falls through to the unconditional decrement after the
loop, underflowing the counter to -1.

This re-enables the use-after-free that the original fix was meant to
prevent: a concurrent close_dev_ioctl() sees descriptor_busy == 0 on
an actively-used descriptor and frees it.

Remove the early decrement from the error path.  The post-loop
decrement already handles all exit paths, matching the correct pattern
used in read_ioctl() and write_ioctl().