In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: ivsc: Fix crash at shutdown due to missing mei_cldev_disable() calls
Both the ACE and CSI driver are missing a mei_cldev_disable() call in their remove() function.
This causes the mei_cl client to stay part of the mei_device->file_list list even though its memory is freed by mei_cl_bus_dev_release() calling kfree(cldev->cl).
This leads to a use-after-free when mei_vsc_remove() runs mei_stop() which first removes all mei bus devices calling mei_ace_remove() and mei_csi_remove() followed by mei_cl_bus_dev_release() and then calls mei_cl_all_disconnect() which walks over mei_device->file_list dereferecing the just freed cldev->cl.
And mei_vsc_remove() it self is run at shutdown because of the platform_device_unregister(tp->pdev) in vsc_tp_shutdown()
When building a kernel with KASAN this leads to the following KASAN report:
[ 106.634504] ================================================================== [ 106.634623] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mei_cl_set_disconnected (drivers/misc/mei/client.c:783) mei [ 106.634683] Read of size 4 at addr ffff88819cb62018 by task systemd-shutdow/1 [ 106.634729] [ 106.634767] Tainted: [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE [ 106.634770] Hardware name: Dell Inc. XPS 16 9640/09CK4V, BIOS 1.12.0 02/10/2025 [ 106.634773] Call Trace: [ 106.634777] <TASK> ... [ 106.634871] kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:221 mm/kasan/report.c:636) [ 106.634901] mei_cl_set_disconnected (drivers/misc/mei/client.c:783) mei [ 106.634921] mei_cl_all_disconnect (drivers/misc/mei/client.c:2165 (discriminator 4)) mei [ 106.634941] mei_reset (drivers/misc/mei/init.c:163) mei ... [ 106.635042] mei_stop (drivers/misc/mei/init.c:348) mei [ 106.635062] mei_vsc_remove (drivers/misc/mei/mei_dev.h:784 drivers/misc/mei/platform-vsc.c:393) mei_vsc [ 106.635066] platform_remove (drivers/base/platform.c:1424)
Add the missing mei_cldev_disable() calls so that the mei_cl gets removed from mei_device->file_list before it is freed to fix this.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.6 | 6.6.103 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.7 | 6.12.44 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.13 | 6.16.4 |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
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Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
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