---
id: "CVE-2026-99019"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-99019"]
title: "Linux kernel: SCSI changer driver leaks device references, blocking module unload"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["infrastructure", "kernel", "linux", "scsi", "self-hosted", "tape-library"]
not_affected_if: ["ch-module-not-loaded", "no-scsi-changer"]
published_at: "2026-10-23T13:17:24+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T04:55:41+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99019", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: SCSI changer driver leaks device references, blocking module unload

The Linux SCSI media changer driver (ch) takes a reference to each data transfer element drive it reads and never releases it, so removed drives stay pinned on the host. The result is a resource leak that can block device reuse and module unload until reboot, and the sources do not describe an attacker gaining access.

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

## How to check

- Run `lsmod | grep ch` and compare the use count before and after attaching and removing a SCSI changer with its drives, if the `ch` module is loaded.
- Check whether the `ch` module is loaded at all with `lsmod | grep '^ch '`; systems without a SCSI media changer are not exposed in practice.
- Check the running kernel with `uname -r` and compare it against the fixed kernel version in the upstream stable branch.

## Fix

- Update to a kernel release that includes the upstream commit 'scsi: ch: Do not keep references to data transfer element devices'; the sources do not name the exact version, so unknown.
- Until patched, avoid repeatedly adding and removing SCSI changer libraries on the same host, and reboot after a removal if a drive will not reattach.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99019

## From the sources

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

scsi: ch: Do not keep references to data transfer element devices

ch_readconfig() looks up the scsi_device of every data transfer element
whose SCSI id the changer reports in READ ELEMENT STATUS, and stores it in
ch->dt[]. scsi_device_lookup() takes a reference, and nothing ever drops
it: ch_destroy() frees the array with kfree(). ch->dt[] is read nowhere
else - it only supplies the vendor, model and revision printed in the same
loop.

Once such a drive is removed, its scsi_device can never be released. It
stays on the host's device list at its address, so a new device there is
refused by anything that walks the list - target_core_pscsi reports
"scsi_device_get() failed for H:C:T:L" - and the low-level driver's module
can no longer be unloaded. Only a reboot recovers.

It shows with any changer that reports its drives' ids; with the mhvtl
virtual library (IBM 3573-TL personality), each create and remove of a
library with four drives leaves four references behind, counted by the
module's use count in lsmod. With ch not bound the count is unchanged, and
with this patch applied it is unchanged too.

Drop the reference as soon as the name has been printed, and remove the now
unused dt[] array. That also removes the array leaked when ch_probe() fails
after ch_readconfig().

The same leak was reported with an RFC patch in 2022, which was not merged.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_