CVE-2026-68179 Affecting linux-6.12 package, versions <6.12.101-1~deb12u1


Severity

Recommended
low

Based on default assessment until relevant scores are available.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.18% (8th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-ECHOLATEST-LINUX612-18912492
  • published18 Aug 2026
  • disclosed10 Aug 2026

Introduced: 10 Aug 2026

CVE-2026-68179  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade Echo:latest linux-6.12 to version 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 or higher.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream linux-6.12 package and not the linux-6.12 package as distributed by Echo. See How to fix? for Echo:latest relevant fixed versions and status.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

misc: nsm: only unlock nsm_dev on post-lock error paths

nsm_dev_ioctl() jumps to the common out label even when the initial copy_from_user() fails before nsm->lock has been taken. The error path then blindly unlocks a mutex that was never acquired.

This issue was found by our static analysis tool and then manually reviewed against the current tree.

The grounded PoC kept the miscdevice ioctl entry and the pre-lock copy_from_user(&raw, argp, _IOC_SIZE(cmd)) failure path by issuing NSM_IOCTL_RAW with an invalid user pointer. That failure reaches the shared out label before mutex_lock(&nsm->lock). Lockdep reported:

WARNING: bad unlock balance detected! exploit/193 is trying to release lock (&global_nsm.lock) at: nsm_dev_ioctl+0x5f/0xcf [vuln_msv] but there are no more locks to release! no locks held by exploit/193.

Return immediately on the pre-lock copy_from_user() failure and keep the common unlock label for the post-lock paths only.