HighFix available

media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts

Type: advisorySources: OSV

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts HEVC slice parameters are shared stateless V4L2 controls, but the common validation path does not verify the active L0/L1 reference counts before driver-specific code consumes them. The original report came from Cedrus, but the active count bounds are not Cedrus-specific. Validate them in the common HEVC slice control path so stateless HEVC drivers get the same basic guarantees as soon as the control is queued. Do not reject ref_idx_l0/ref_idx_l1 entries here. Existing userspace may use out-of-range sentinel values such as 0xff for missing references, and some hardware can use that information for concealment. Keep this common check limited to the active reference counts.

Products: Kernel
Affected versions: Not specified
Fixed versions: 6.1.183, 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 6.6.148, 7.1.6
CVEs: CVE-2026-68206
Confirmed fixed CVEs: Not specified
Updated in this feed: 3 Nov 2026, 16:16 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts

core-osv · Original source

Published 10 Aug 2026, 12:00 UTC

osv:CVE-2026-68206

Kernel

Fixed versions: 6.1.183, 6.6.148, 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6

Complete source record

{
  "id": "6c8c224c3ecf5d82acd199a9697c7cb078919272a2f9f925b20ad91bdeddab01",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68206",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts",
    "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: v4l2-ctrls: validate HEVC active reference counts HEVC slice parameters are shared stateless V4L2 controls, but the common validation path does not verify the active L0/L1 reference counts before driver-specific code consumes them. The original report came from Cedrus, but the active count bounds are not Cedrus-specific. Validate them in the common HEVC slice control path so stateless HEVC drivers get the same basic guarantees as soon as the control is queued. Do not reject ref_idx_l0/ref_idx_l1 entries here. Existing userspace may use out-of-range sentinel values such as 0xff for missing references, and some hardware can use that information for concealment. Keep this common check limited to the active reference counts.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-68206",
    "products": [
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        "name": {
          "value": "Kernel",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
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        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
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            "value": "6.1.183",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
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          {
            "value": "6.6.148",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          },
          {
            "value": "6.12.101",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
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          {
            "value": "6.18.42",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          },
          {
            "value": "7.1.6",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
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        "affected_versions": []
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    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-68206",
      "aliases": [
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      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
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      "affected": [
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                  "introduced": "6.19.0"
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                {
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          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "Kernel",
            "ecosystem": "Linux"
          },
          "database_specific": {
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      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:30.134873218Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3068ab802fc98b121dcb451e1f7f4d338ffc7a19",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3299c3905f3fb439ebd892658b87bc76c93ae116",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a998cc1c348769262d433acb7d238c5fac4b2e0",
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        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b01df98a6669d2b67d8aed816021b327fd905998",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dbaf0e0023e2f9332c5164822def7f80b7d2c5ef",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/68xxx/CVE-2026-68206.json",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68206",
        "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cna_assigner": "Linux",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/68xxx/CVE-2026-68206.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-68206",
        "evidence": "/id"
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    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 497238,
  "published_at": "2026-08-10T12:00:25.309+00:00"
}