* [CVE-2026-93273][LOW] regulator: tps6594: Fix device node reference leaks in multiphase loop [ Upstream
@ 2026-09-24 17:10 21% AL-KERNEL
0 siblings, 0 replies; 1+ results
From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-09-24 17:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-93273
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: regulator: tps6594: Fix device node reference leaks in multiphase loop [ Upstream
Commit: 28f70e0aa767a8f022c70ed75ecef227dc668121
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=28f70e0aa767a8f022c70ed75ecef227dc668121
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-93273
Analysis date: Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:10:33 -0400
ActionableScore: 0
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate
Manual review required: NO
Summary:
No one-sentence report phrase was found.
======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-93273 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-93273
The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.
The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.
Published priority for this report: LOW
Manual review required: NO
A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.
======================================================================
AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
======================================================================
CVE-2026-93273 LOW https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-93273 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN LOW Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';**CWE-476;*CWE-401;*CWE-772;BEST CVSS score: '4.4';DESCR 'A NULL pointer dereference in the TPS6594 regulator probe path can occur when of_find_node_by_name returns NULL for an expected multiphase regulator node and the result is passed to device tree helper functions without validation. A malformed or incomplete device tree can trigger the issue during driver probe and may cause a kernel oops or panic resulting in denial of service. For the CVSS the PR:H is used because reliable triggering normally requires administrative control over the device tree, boot configuration, firmware, or platform device configuration. The issue is not network reachable. The reference leaks in the same loop are limited resource leaks and do not provide evidence of memory corruption, information disclosure, integrity impact, or privilege escalation.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate (with actual score 0) YES NULLPTR SIMPLEFIX LEAK HARDWARE YES NO guess
======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================
ActionableScore=0
PrimitiveClass=CLASS_C
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=YES
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=NO
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
1. ActionableScore
* Raw conservative score: 0
* Conservative score: 0
* Raw paranoid score: 0
* Paranoid score: 0
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate**::
2. Signal breakdown
* +1 Concrete persistent kernel reference leak. `of_find_node_by_name()` and two `of_get_parent()` calls acquire device-node references which were not released in the normal loop path.
* +1 Plausible kernel crash or strong DoS. A missing `np` result is immediately passed to `of_node_full_name()` and `of_get_parent()`, producing a direct NULL-pointer dereference during driver probe.
* -2 Host-admin-equivalent privilege requirement. Reliably triggering the NULL path requires control of the platform device tree, boot configuration, firmware-provided DTB, or an equivalent privileged device configuration mechanism.
Important non-awarded signals:
* No real UAF is established. The missing `of_node_put()` calls retain references and do not free an object while a stale reference is still used.
* No repeated release or refcount mutation exists. The patch adds the missing releases once per acquired valid reference and does not correct a second put on a potentially freed object.
* No controlled reclaim, arbitrary write, OOB access, callback control, or attacker-controlled post-free state is established.
* No confidentiality or integrity impact is established. The reference leak and NULL dereference do not expose a read-back or unauthorized modification primitive.
* No remote reachability is established. The vulnerable path is a local platform-driver probe path, not packet or protocol processing.
* No additional Availability point is awarded. The possible Oops or panic is the same consequence already counted as the crash signal.
* No paranoid bonus is awarded. The patch establishes only a direct NULL dereference and bounded probe-time reference leaks, not a stronger corruption mechanism.
3. Reachability analysis
The vulnerable code executes in `tps6594_regulator_probe()` while probing a TI TPS6594 PMIC regulator device described by the device tree. The NULL dereference requires an expected multiphase regulator node to be absent or malformed relative to the driver descriptor.
A reliable attacker-triggered scenario requires modifying the DTB, firmware configuration, boot configuration, or an equivalent host-controlled platform-device configuration. These operations are host-admin-equivalent on normal Linux deployments. The supplied patch does not establish an ordinary-user, delegated-service, or container-based path for changing the relevant live device-tree topology.
The complete trigger is not namespace-scoped. Network namespaces, user namespaces, and ordinary local device access do not provide control over the platform DT node used by this probe path. No network input, special runtime protocol, race condition, or repeatable unprivileged device-management interface is shown.
The reference leak is limited to the number of iterations in the multiphase configuration loop during driver probe. The patch does not establish an unprivileged repeated reprobe mechanism capable of causing host-wide memory exhaustion.
4. Primitive and severity interpretation
The primary security-relevant behavior is a direct NULL-pointer dereference caused by failing to validate the result of `of_find_node_by_name()` before using it. This is an invalid-state and crash primitive, classified as CLASS_C. It is not a UAF, stale-object lifetime violation, double release, refcount takeover, or active structured-object reuse condition.
The separately fixed issue is a concrete device-node reference leak. References to `np`, `np_parent`, and `np_pmic_parent` were retained after each successful lookup. This is a resource-management defect, but the supplied evidence does not show persistent uncontrolled accumulation, resource-isolation bypass, memory corruption, or a practical non-DoS impact.
The demonstrated consequence is a possible kernel Oops or panic during TPS6594 regulator driver probe. A speculative consequence is limited resource consumption if privileged users repeatedly arrange device probing. Privilege escalation, confidentiality impact, integrity impact, controlled memory corruption, and remote exploitation are not supported by the patch context.
ImportantCandidate is NO because no Class A or meaningful Class B lifetime/corruption primitive is present. AutoDowngradeAllowed is YES because the issue is a host-admin-gated probe-time NULL dereference plus limited reference leak, with no unresolved corruption or authorization-boundary primitive.
5. One-sentence report phrase
A malformed or incomplete TPS6594 device tree can cause a NULL pointer dereference during regulator driver probe, while missing device-node releases cause limited reference leaks, resulting primarily in a host-admin-gated local denial of service.
6. Manual review recommendation
NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED
The patch establishes a direct NULL dereference and device-node reference leak without a UAF, memory-corruption primitive, security-boundary bypass, unprivileged reachability, or remote attack path.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: medium
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: regulator: tps6594: Fix device node reference leaks in multiphase loop [ Upstream
Commit: 28f70e0aa767a8f022c70ed75ecef227dc668121
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=28f70e0aa767a8f022c70ed75ecef227dc668121
Changed files:
drivers/regulator/tps6594-regulator.c
Diff excerpt:
Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.
Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=28f70e0aa767a8f022c70ed75ecef227dc668121
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-93273 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-93273
The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.
The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.
The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.
Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:
Conservative CVSS vector: Not available
The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.4
The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.
CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.
A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.
Conservative ActionableScore: unknown
Paranoid ActionableScore: 0
The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.
For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:
ActionableScore below 5 -> MODERATE REGULAR
ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0
The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.
There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).
KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.
AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: LOW
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW
These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).
Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is [email protected] (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).
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