In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: HID: core: quiesce input in hid_hw_stop() to prevent use-after-free A driver's probe calls hid_device_io_start() to enable input delivery, then fails at a later initia…

Overview

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

HID: core: quiesce input in hid_hw_stop() to prevent use-after-free

A driver's probe calls hid_device_io_start() to enable input delivery, then fails at a later initialization step and unwinds via hid_hw_stop(). The unwind frees struct hidraw via hidraw_disconnect() while in-flight HID reports may still be running on another CPU, dereferencing the freed object through hidraw_report_event(). syzbot reports the resulting use-after-free for the corsair-psu HID driver.

Edward Adam Davis posted a per-driver fix for corsair-psu that adds an explicit hid_device_io_stop() before hid_hw_stop() in the probe error path ("hwmon: prevent packets from going to driver for probe", 2026-04-28). Auditing the tree shows 15 drivers call hid_device_io_start(); 7 also call hid_device_io_stop() and 8 do not:

drivers calling hid_device_io_start() without a matching hid_device_io_stop() before hid_hw_stop(): drivers/hwmon/corsair-psu.c (fix posted by Edward) drivers/hwmon/corsair-cpro.c drivers/hwmon/nzxt-kraken3.c drivers/hwmon/nzxt-smart2.c drivers/hwmon/gigabyte_waterforce.c drivers/hid/hid-logitech-dj.c drivers/hid/hid-nintendo.c drivers/hid/hid-mcp2221.c

Roughly half of all callers of the API are exposed. Centralize the quiesce in hid_hw_stop() so callers do not have to remember the matching stop: if a driver has left hdev->io_started true on entry, call hid_device_io_stop() before hid_disconnect().

For the 7 drivers that already call hid_device_io_stop() correctly, hdev->io_started is false on entry, the guard short-circuits, and behavior is unchanged.

No Fixes: tag because the affected drivers gained their hid_device_io_start() calls independently over years; the bug is a class-wide API misuse rather than a regression from one commit.

Remediation

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

Vendor advisories

• Red Hat VEX · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, … · updated 2026-10-21 · vex