| Release Date: | 2026-08-15 | |
| Impact: | Moderate | What is this? |
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tpm: Make the TPM character devices non-seekable The TPM character devices expose a sequential command/response interface, but their open handlers leave FMODE_PREAD and FMODE_PWRITE enabled. After a command leaves a response pending, pread(fd, buf, 16, 0x1400) passes 0x1400 as *off to tpm_common_read(). The transfer length is bounded by response_length, but the offset is used unchecked when forming data_buffer + *off. A sufficiently large offset therefore causes an out-of-bounds heap read through copy_to_user() and, if the copy succeeds, an out-of-bounds zero-write through the following memset(). Positional I/O does not provide coherent semantics for this interface. An arbitrary pread offset cannot represent how much of a response has been consumed sequentially. The write callback always stores a command at the start of data_buffer, while pwrite() does not update file->f_pos and can leave the sequential read cursor stale. Call nonseekable_open() from both open handlers. This removes FMODE_PREAD and FMODE_PWRITE, causing positional reads and writes to fail with -ESPIPE before reaching the TPM callbacks, and explicitly marks the files non-seekable. Normal read() and write() continue to use the existing sequential f_pos cursor, leaving the response state machine unchanged. Tested on Linux 6.12 with KASAN and a swtpm TPM2 device: - sequential partial reads returned the complete response - pread() and preadv() with offset 0x1400 returned -ESPIPE - pwrite() and pwritev() with offset zero returned -ESPIPE - the pending response remained intact after the rejected operations - a subsequent normal command/response cycle completed normally - no KASAN report was produced.
See more information about CVE-2026-72135 from MITRE CVE dictionary and NIST NVD
NOTE: The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
| Base Score: | 7.0 |
| Vector String: | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Version: | 3.1 |
| Attack Vector: | Local |
| Attack Complexity: | High |
| Privileges Required: | Low |
| User Interaction: | None |
| Scope: | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality Impact: | High |
| Integrity Impact: | High |
| Availability Impact: | High |
| Platform | Errata | Release Date |
| Oracle Linux version 10 (kernel-uek) | ELSA-2026-500248 | 2026-09-04 |
| Oracle Linux version 8 (kernel-uek) | ELSA-2026-500249 | 2026-09-04 |
| Oracle Linux version 9 (kernel-uek) | ELSA-2026-500248 | 2026-09-04 |
| Oracle Linux version 9 (kernel-uek) | ELSA-2026-500249 | 2026-09-04 |
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