Impact
The Linux kernel hwmon driver for the nzxt‑kraken3 device incorrectly stops device I/O, causing a race condition between hid_input_report() and cleanup code when the probe fails after I/O has started. This results in a use‑after‑free vulnerability that can corrupt memory. The flaw stems from improper ordering of stop and cleanup operations in the driver.
Affected Systems
All Linux kernel releases that include the hwmon driver for nzxt‑kraken3 before the fix are susceptible. Any system that loads this driver—typically through a USB connection to the NZXT Kraken3 device—falls under the affected scope. Kernel versions at the time of the patch commit (see provided git references) do not contain the vulnerability.
Risk and Exploitability
The CVSS score is not disclosed, but a kernel‑space use‑after‑free represents a high‑severity flaw. The EPSS score is unavailable, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The race condition could be leveraged by a local attacker with write access to the USB device, possibly causing memory corruption. The likely attack vector is local via the USB interface, requiring the attacker to trigger a probe failure after I/O has started.
OpenCVE Enrichment