CVE-2026-68206
Received Received - Intake

Linux Kernel HEVC Active Reference Count Validation

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-68206, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-08-10

Last updated on: 2026-08-10

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

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.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-10
Last Modified
2026-08-10
Generated
2026-08-10
AI Q&A
2026-08-10
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the Linux kernel's media subsystem and involves HEVC video decoding. Detection requires checking kernel logs for related errors or kernel crashes during HEVC video processing. Commands like dmesg | grep -i HEVC or journalctl -k | grep -i HEVC may help identify issues.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to the latest stable version that includes the fix for this vulnerability. If updating is not immediately possible, avoid processing HEVC video streams until the kernel is updated to prevent potential exploitation.

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