VYPR
Unrated severityNVD Advisory· Published Oct 15, 2025· Updated Apr 15, 2026

CVE-2025-39994

CVE-2025-39994

Description

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

media: tuner: xc5000: Fix use-after-free in xc5000_release

The original code uses cancel_delayed_work() in xc5000_release(), which does not guarantee that the delayed work item timer_sleep has fully completed if it was already running. This leads to use-after-free scenarios where xc5000_release() may free the xc5000_priv while timer_sleep is still active and attempts to dereference the xc5000_priv.

A typical race condition is illustrated below:

CPU 0 (release thread) | CPU 1 (delayed work callback) xc5000_release() | xc5000_do_timer_sleep() cancel_delayed_work() | hybrid_tuner_release_state(priv) | kfree(priv) | | priv = container_of() // UAF

Replace cancel_delayed_work() with cancel_delayed_work_sync() to ensure that the timer_sleep is properly canceled before the xc5000_priv memory is deallocated.

A deadlock concern was considered: xc5000_release() is called in a process context and is not holding any locks that the timer_sleep work item might also need. Therefore, the use of the _sync() variant is safe here.

This bug was initially identified through static analysis.

[hverkuil: fix typo in Subject: tunner -> tuner]

AI Insight

LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.

In Linux kernel xc5000 tuner driver, a use-after-free can occur due to missing synchronization in xc5000_release.

Vulnerability

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's XC5000 tuner driver when releasing the device. The function xc5000_release() uses cancel_delayed_work() to cancel a delayed work item (timer_sleep). However, cancel_delayed_work() does not wait for an already running work item to complete, leading to a race condition where the delayed work callback may attempt to access xc5000_priv after it has been freed.

Exploitation

An attacker could exploit this by triggering the release of the tuner device while a delayed work callback is executing. This requires local access and the ability to manipulate the device lifecycle. The race window is small but deterministic.

Impact

Successful exploitation results in use-after-free of kernel memory, potentially leading to privilege escalation, information disclosure, or denial of service. The delayed work callback dereferences the freed xc5000_priv structure, causing memory corruption.

Mitigation

The fix replaces cancel_delayed_work() with cancel_delayed_work_sync() to ensure the work item is completely finished before freeing the structure. Patches have been applied to multiple stable kernel branches [1][2][3][4]. Users should update to the latest kernel version.

AI Insight generated on May 19, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.

Affected products

1

Patches

9

Vulnerability mechanics

Generated on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.

References

9

News mentions

0

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