CVE-2026-98662
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's gp2ap020a00f ambient light sensor driver. During device removal or initialization failure, the driver fails to properly drain scheduled interrupt tasks before releasing memory structures. A local user capable of unbinding or disconnecting the device can exploit this use-after-free flaw, leading to a system crash and Denial of Service (DoS) or potential memory corruption.
Statement
A race in the gp2ap020a00f driver allows queued irq_work to execute after the associated IIO trigger has been released during device removal. free_irq does not drain work that the threaded IRQ handler already queued, so the delayed call to iio_trigger_poll can dereference freed trigger memory. The directly supported impact is a local kernel crash and denial of service. Because this is a confirmed use after free rather than a simple NULL pointer dereference, reuse of the freed allocation may also create a potential path to confidentiality or integrity impact and privilege escalation, although no reliable write primitive is demonstrated. For the CVSS the PR:L value in the paranoid score represents deployments where a local service, container root, or restricted device management account can initiate driver removal or unbind operations. Normal direct device removal usually requires administrative privileges and is represented by PR:H in the base score. AC:H applies because successful triggering depends on winning a race between queued irq_work and device teardown. The issue is not network reachable and normally requires the affected I2C sensor driver and device to be present.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.7 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory
The use of previously freed memory may corrupt valid data, if the memory area in question has been allocated and used properly elsewhere.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If chunk consolidation occurs after the use of previously freed data, the process may crash when invalid data is used as chunk information.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
Read operations on freed memory can sometimes leak sensitive information instead of causing a crash
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If malicious data is entered before chunk consolidation can take place, it may be possible to take advantage of a write-what-where primitive to execute arbitrary code. If the newly allocated data happens to hold a class, in C++ for example, various function pointers may be scattered within the heap data. If one of these function pointers is overwritten with an address to valid shellcode, execution of arbitrary code can be achieved.
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