Vulnerability Details CVE-2026-46213
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
HID: appletb-kbd: fix UAF in inactivity-timer cleanup path
Commit 38224c472a03 ("HID: appletb-kbd: fix slab use-after-free bug in
appletb_kbd_probe") added timer_delete_sync(&kbd->inactivity_timer) to
both the probe close_hw error path and appletb_kbd_remove(), but the
way it was wired in left the inactivity timer reachable during driver
tear-down via two distinct windows.
Window A -- put_device() before timer_delete_sync():
put_device(&kbd->backlight_dev->dev);
timer_delete_sync(&kbd->inactivity_timer);
The inactivity_timer softirq reads kbd->backlight_dev and calls
backlight_device_set_brightness() -> mutex_lock(&ops_lock). If a
concurrent hid_appletb_bl unbind drops the last devm reference
between these two calls, the backlight_device is freed and the
mutex_lock() touches freed memory.
Window B -- backlight cleanup before hid_hw_stop():
if (kbd->backlight_dev) {
timer_delete_sync(...);
put_device(...);
}
hid_hw_close(hdev);
hid_hw_stop(hdev);
Even after Window A is closed, hid_hw_close()/hid_hw_stop() still run
afterwards, so a late ".event" callback from the HID core (USB URB
completion on real Apple hardware) can arrive after
timer_delete_sync() drained the softirq but before put_device() drops
the reference. That callback reaches reset_inactivity_timer(), which
calls mod_timer() and re-arms the timer. The freshly re-armed timer
can then fire on the about-to-be-freed backlight_device.
Both windows produce the same KASAN slab-use-after-free:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __mutex_lock+0x1aab/0x21c0
Read of size 8 at addr ffff88803ee9a108 by task swapper/0/0
Call Trace:
<IRQ>
__mutex_lock
backlight_device_set_brightness
appletb_inactivity_timer
call_timer_fn
run_timer_softirq
handle_softirqs
Allocated by task N:
devm_backlight_device_register
appletb_bl_probe
Freed by task M:
(concurrent hid_appletb_bl unbind path)
Close both windows at once by reworking the tear-down in
appletb_kbd_remove() and in the probe close_hw error path so that
1) hid_hw_close()/hid_hw_stop() run before the backlight cleanup,
guaranteeing no further .event callback can fire and re-arm the
timer, and
2) inside the "if (kbd->backlight_dev)" block, timer_delete_sync()
runs before put_device(), so the softirq is drained before the
final reference is dropped.
Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score
EPSS Score 0.0
EPSS Ranking 2.2%
CVSS Severity
CVSS v3 Score 7.8
Products affected by CVE-2026-46213
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15.10
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15.11
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15.6
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15.7
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15.8
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15.9
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.1
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.10
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.11
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.12
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.2
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.3
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.4
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.5
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.6
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.7
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.8
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16.9
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.1
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.10
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.11
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.12
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.13
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.2
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.3
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.4
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.5
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.6
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.7
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.8
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17.9
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.1
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.10
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.11
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.13
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.14
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.16
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.17
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.18
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.19
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.2
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.20
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.21
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.22
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.23
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.24
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.25
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.26
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.28
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.29
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.3
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.30
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.4
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.5
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.6
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.7
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.8
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18.9
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.1
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.10
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.11
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.12
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.13
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.14
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.3
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.4
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.6
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.7
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.8
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19.9
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0.1
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0.2
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0.3
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0.5
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0.6
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cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1