Revert "media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()"

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "media: v4l2-dev: fix error handling in __video_register_device()" This reverts commit 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a. The intentions of that patch were good, but it doesn't work. The idea is that if device_register fails, you have to do a put_device to let the ref counter release resources. However, the V4L2 API says that if video_register_device() fails, then you have to call video_device_release(), which kfree()s the video_device struct. But the put_device() will already have freed the struct, so you end up in a double-free scenario. There is not really a good way of fixing this without breaking video_register_device() into two parts, one that initializes everything, and one that does the actual device_register, and then converting all V4L2 drivers to this new model. That is a massive job, and it is very unlikely that device_register will fail. So rather than ending up in a double-free scenario, just revert this patch, and in that case we'll have a small memory leak. Which is a lot more robust.

Timeline

1. Sep 11, 2026, 7:46 PM UTCCVE published
2. Oct 19, 2026, 8:51 AM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• Linux Linux

  From e5c8e62ae551e0ad2e15412aa0c57c2856d59677 · fixed in 8b998c171ed875e402e1fd1c5cd619e4ca05e9c1; From 8b451a9a46f2bfc510e6d5c2492df91647586184 · fixed in 3de14b4f681a1b3c6d375d98d9d37a55ebb85349; From b6be1f5633eae200af2527e9eeb7f51be5739b0f · fixed in 8027f82c0f5474ed72448e160ee9778051fa1f49; From ae7b143e05b36fc69d6571751855946cc45064c6 · fixed in 2ac009a65d2385e9f0799eaf9d9694a29153a161; From 2429bb9fad88c8fa84c4956b0a21cf5afe5e92b7 · fixed in 712ca1cf756de2557a116e0df55791bac0c9f99e; From 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a · fixed in aad08b5f67d2a8116e1a00bce2611c1513b10bce; From 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a · fixed in ce792b94e03882108019ba996c1a7c4d4e09be2c; From 2a934fdb01db6458288fc9386d3d8ceba6dd551a · fixed in e7600f5cee5de14065f950807931d6e6d40fb2d7; From 5.10.239 · fixed in 5.10.270; From 5.15.186 · fixed in 5.15.221; From 6.1.142 · fixed in 6.1.188; From 6.6.95 · fixed in 6.6.157; From 6.12.35 · fixed in 6.12.109; From 5.4.295 · fixed in 5.5; From 6.15.4 · fixed in 6.16

• Linux Linux

  6.16

• KernelLinux

  fixed in 5.10.270; From 5.11.0 · fixed in 5.15.221; From 5.16.0 · fixed in 6.1.188; From 6.2.0 · fixed in 6.6.157; From 6.7.0 · fixed in 6.12.109; From 6.13.0 · fixed in 6.18.50; From 6.16.0 · fixed in 7.2.4

References 8