CVE-2026-97969

watchdog: msc313e: Fix clock leak and spurious timer in settimeout()

CVE-2026-97969 is fixed in 12 products on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97969, released September 29, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

Routine
CVSS
5.5
Moderate
Exploitation
None reported
No vendor assessment
CISA KEV
Not listed
Not in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
EPSS
0.0017
6th percentile

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: watchdog: msc313e: Fix clock leak and spurious timer in settimeout() msc313e_wdt_settimeout() unconditionally calls msc313e_wdt_start() which introduces two severe bugs: 1. If the watchdog is already active, calling start() again will increase the reference count of the clock again. However stop() is only called once, the reference count is unbalance. 2. If the watchdog is stopped, calling settimeout() will start the hardware timer accidentally. Factor out the register-writing logic into a helper function. Only call it in settimeout() if the watchdog is running. Otherwise, simply update `wdev->timeout`.

Where it's fixed

ProductFixed inFixReleased
Linux
kernel-64kb · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-azure · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-default · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-default-base · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1.150700.17.51.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-docs · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_24 · sles 15.7 1-150700.15.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-obs-build · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-source · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-syms · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-zfcpdump · sles 15.7 6.4.0-150700.53.90.1 SUSE-SU-2026:5091-1 Nov 7, 2026
linux · Debian 12.15 (bookworm) 6.1.190-1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97969 Sep 29, 2026
linux · Debian 13.5 (trixie) 6.12.111-1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97969 Sep 29, 2026
linux · Debian 14 7.2.7-1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97969 Sep 29, 2026
linux-6.12 · Debian 12.15 (bookworm) 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97969 Sep 29, 2026

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