---
id: "CVE-2026-98859"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98859"]
title: "Linux kernel: HID multitouch release timer can use freed memory on unbind"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "runtime"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["hid", "kernel", "laptops", "linux", "multitouch", "runtime", "touchscreens"]
not_affected_if: ["no-multitouch-hid-device"]
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:40+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:12:56+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98859", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: HID multitouch release timer can use freed memory on unbind

The Linux kernel HID multitouch driver can re-arm its sticky-finger release timer after removal, so the timer later reads memory already freed when the driver unbinds. The sources do not state what an attacker gains beyond a kernel memory use-after-free.

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

## How to check

- Check the kernel version with `uname -r` and whether the `hid_multitouch` module is loaded with `lsmod | grep hid_multitouch`
- unknown for whether the sources list affected kernel version ranges

## Fix

- Update to a kernel release that includes the upstream commit titled 'HID: multitouch: stop the release timer from being rearmed on remove' (version unknown from sources)
- Until patched, unknown whether unloading or unbinding the device driver can be avoided

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98859

## From the sources

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

HID: multitouch: stop the release timer from being rearmed on remove

mt_remove() quiesces the sticky-finger timer before stopping the
hardware:

    timer_delete_sync(&td->release_timer);

    sysfs_remove_group(&hdev->dev.kobj, &mt_attribute_group);
    hid_hw_stop(hdev);

timer_delete_sync() waits for a running callback and dequeues the timer,
but it does not stop the timer from being armed again. The transport is
still delivering reports at that point, and the report path rearms it:

    if (app->quirks & MT_QUIRK_STICKY_FINGERS) {
        if (td->mt_io_flags & MT_IO_SLOTS_MASK)
            mod_timer(&td->release_timer,
                      jiffies + msecs_to_jiffies(100));

A report that arrives after timer_delete_sync() has returned therefore
leaves the timer queued. td is allocated with devm_kzalloc() against
hdev->dev, so it is freed when the driver is unbound, after mt_remove()
returns. When the timer fires afterwards, mt_expired_timeout()
dereferences the freed td:

    struct mt_device *td = timer_container_of(td, t, release_timer);
    struct hid_device *hdev = td->hdev;

    if (test_and_set_bit_lock(MT_IO_FLAGS_RUNNING, &td->mt_io_flags))

Simply moving the teardown after hid_hw_stop() does not fix this on its
own, because mt_expired_timeout() calls mt_release_contacts(), which
walks hdev->inputs; the timer still has to be quiesced before
hid_hw_stop() tears the input devices down.

Use timer_shutdown_sync() instead, which additionally makes any later
mod_timer() a no-op, so neither ordering constraint has to be traded off
against the other. This is the final-teardown pattern the function was
introduced for, and hid-wiimote already uses it for the same reason.

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