CVE-2025-71073: Input: lkkbd - disable pending work before freeing device

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-71073 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Use After Free vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.18% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 7.3% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 13-01-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 30-10-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Input: lkkbd - disable pending work before freeing device lkkbd_interrupt() schedules lk->tq via schedule_work(), and the work handler lkkbd_reinit() dereferences the lkkbd structure and its serio/input_dev fields. lkkbd_disconnect() and error paths in lkkbd_connect() free the lkkbd structure without preventing the reinit work from being queued again until serio_close() returns. This can allow the work handler to run after the structure has been freed, leading to a potential use-after-free. Use disable_work_sync() instead of cancel_work_sync() to ensure the reinit work cannot be re-queued, and call it both in lkkbd_disconnect() and in lkkbd_connect() error paths after serio_open().

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.