CVE-2026-97946

/// Technical description

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

x86/amd_node: Fix PCI device reference counting in amd_smn_init()

The local "root" pointer is a temporary variable used during the device

search. Therefore, refcount related to the search iterators should be cleaned

up after the search is complete.

Use the __free() cleanup macro to ensure the refcount is decremented when the

temporary pointer goes out of scope.

Additionally, increment the refcount when caching a root pointer. This ensures

the in-use refcount is separate from the temporary search refcounting.

Finally, drop the redundant "root = NULL" before the second search loop. The

pci_get_class() iterator always decrements the refcount of its "from"

argument, so the first loop can only fall through with "root" already NULL.

/// Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

/// References