---
id: "CVE-2026-98855"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98855"]
title: "Linux kernel: failed device-tree overlay can free a property twice"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "runtime"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["device-tree", "linux-kernel", "runtime"]
not_affected_if: []
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:39+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:12:59+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98855", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: failed device-tree overlay can free a property twice

When a device-tree overlay fails to apply, the kernel frees a property but leaves a pointer to it linked in the node's deadprops list. The node's release path then frees the same property again, a double free.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98855

## From the sources

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

of/overlay: put property on deadprops only after changeset add succeeds

add_changeset_property() links a new property of a not-yet-live
target node into the node's deadprops list before handing it to
of_changeset_add_property(). If that fails, the error path frees the
property but leaves the freed pointer linked in deadprops, and
of_node_release() frees it a second time when the aborted overlay's
node is released.

Record the changeset entry first and link the property into deadprops
only on success. of_changeset_add_property() never looks at the
node's property lists, so the order of the two steps is otherwise
immaterial, and the error path frees a property that nothing
references.

---

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