---
id: CVE-2026-72481
title: 'iio: magnetometer: ak8975: fix potential kernel stack memory leak'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  iio: magnetometer: ak8975: fix potential kernel stack memory leak

  Currently in the AK8975 driver there are four instances where potential
  uninitialized kernel stack me…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    12848f4ded022963944c063e09a192549a4dad1e
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    a9cf46054f81972f8c0f1dc2a79d2a141999dbce
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    9f920550abacedc7fc3163dea65ac2a7d0b0765d
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    8cf346074533356d67a6a6a43a192328ad341f11
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    b974566803bceb72f0b9b5f1d7270b79ba963766
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    3d57672119525c59ed73ea21accb001ccbcd6cfd
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    fb27ebf81136e796c7b719303ef6fd7e1ae5d488
  - >-
    Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e <
    a9a00d727b7bbc5e913a919530a9dd468935bf95
  - Linux 4.7
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-06T16:55:37.682804Z'
published: '2026-08-15'
updated: '2026-11-06'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-06T17:05:43.038Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72481'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/12848f4ded022963944c063e09a192549a4dad1e'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a9cf46054f81972f8c0f1dc2a79d2a141999dbce'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f920550abacedc7fc3163dea65ac2a7d0b0765d'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8cf346074533356d67a6a6a43a192328ad341f11'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b974566803bceb72f0b9b5f1d7270b79ba963766'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d57672119525c59ed73ea21accb001ccbcd6cfd'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb27ebf81136e796c7b719303ef6fd7e1ae5d488'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a9a00d727b7bbc5e913a919530a9dd468935bf95'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.0022
epssPercentile: 0.12558
ingestedAt: '2026-11-06T18:00:12.567Z'
---

## Overview

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

iio: magnetometer: ak8975: fix potential kernel stack memory leak

Currently in the AK8975 driver there are four instances where potential
uninitialized kernel stack memory leaks can occur. If
i2c_smbus_read_i2c_block_data_or_emulated() returns a value less than
the size of the buffer, uninitialized bytes are retained in the buffer
and later the buffer is passed on to IIO buffers, potentially leaking
memory to userspace.

Fix this by adding checks whether the return value of the function is
equal to the size of the buffer and subsequently if the value is
lesser than zero to distinguish from a returned error code.

## Affected

- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < 12848f4ded022963944c063e09a192549a4dad1e`
- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < a9cf46054f81972f8c0f1dc2a79d2a141999dbce`
- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < 9f920550abacedc7fc3163dea65ac2a7d0b0765d`
- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < 8cf346074533356d67a6a6a43a192328ad341f11`
- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < b974566803bceb72f0b9b5f1d7270b79ba963766`
- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < 3d57672119525c59ed73ea21accb001ccbcd6cfd`
- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < fb27ebf81136e796c7b719303ef6fd7e1ae5d488`
- `Linux >= bc11ca4a0b84a2f2ebaca2614b92998738d13b1e < a9a00d727b7bbc5e913a919530a9dd468935bf95`
- `Linux 4.7`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.