CVE-2026-68206 json
media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts
published 2026-08-10 2 mo ago modified 2026-10-19 20 d ago also EUVD-2026-55307
- cvss
- 7.8
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 7%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts
HEVC slice parameters are shared stateless V4L2 controls, but the common validation path does not verify the active L0/L1 reference counts before driver-specific code consumes them.
The original report came from Cedrus, but the active count bounds are not Cedrus-specific. Validate them in the common HEVC slice control path so stateless HEVC drivers get the same basic guarantees as soon as the control is queued.
Do not reject ref_idx_l0/ref_idx_l1 entries here. Existing userspace may use out-of-range sentinel values such as 0xff for missing references, and some hardware can use that information for concealment. Keep this common check limited to the active reference counts.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 6.1.183, 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6, 7.2
- linux Debian 12 6.1.187-1
- linux Debian 13 6.12.101-1
- linux Debian 14 7.1.6-1
- linux-6.12 Debian 12 6.12.101-1~deb12u1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68206
- linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-147.147
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-38.38
- linux-aws Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1067.70
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1014.14
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1071.79
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1014.14
- linux-gke Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1066.74
- linux-gke Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1008.9
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68206
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
- kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
- kernel-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
- kernel-source SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
- kernel-default SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP7, SLE Module for Legacy 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 +2 more 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
- kernel-zfcpdump SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
- kernel-obs-build SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
- kernel-default-base SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1.150700.17.45.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:4254-1SUSE-SU-2026:23887-1SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1SUSE-SU-2026:23897-1SUSE-SU-2026:23881-1SUSE-SU-2026:4120-1
- kernel-rt openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
- dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
- kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
- kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
- kernel-azure openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
- kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
- kernel-source openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
- kernel-default openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/3299c3905f3fb439ebd892658b87bc76c93ae116 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a998cc1c348769262d433acb7d238c5fac4b2e0 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/dbaf0e0023e2f9332c5164822def7f80b7d2c5ef commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/3068ab802fc98b121dcb451e1f7f4d338ffc7a19 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b01df98a6669d2b67d8aed816021b327fd905998 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/afbe4bc252d90a6f8fad869b06d5430f615f22f9 commit
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-68206 updated cvss 5.5
kernel: media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernelaffected: workaround, no fix available “Fix deferred”
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 morenot affected: vulnerable code not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
- Assessed
- 23 d ago
Exploit prediction
0.18% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 7% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/3299c3905f3fb439ebd892658b87bc76c93ae116
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/9a998cc1c348769262d433acb7d238c5fac4b2e0
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/dbaf0e0023e2f9332c5164822def7f80b7d2c5ef
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/3068ab802fc98b121dcb451e1f7f4d338ffc7a19
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/b01df98a6669d2b67d8aed816021b327fd905998
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/afbe4bc252d90a6f8fad869b06d5430f615f22f9
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-68206
- NVD CVE-2026-68206
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.