Executive brief
The Linux kernel's Dell WMI system management driver was logging plaintext BIOS administrator passwords to the kernel log when setting system attributes. An attacker with local access to kernel logs could extract these credentials to gain unauthorized administrative access to Dell system firmware settings.
Technical details
A debug hex dump function (print_hex_dump_bytes) was called on a buffer containing BIOS attribute request data that had been populated with plaintext admin passwords via populate_security_buffer(). This exposed credentials in kernel logs accessible to users with log read permissions. The vulnerability is in the platform/x86/dell-wmi-sysman driver's set_attribute() function. The fix removes the problematic debug dump statement, preventing password exposure. No code execution or remote attack vector exists; the issue is local information disclosure requiring kernel log access.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel 5.x through 7.x (all versions with dell-wmi-sysman driver)
Timeline
- 2026-09-11: disclosed: CVE-2026-89444 published
- 2026-06-14: patched: Fix committed upstream (commit 83c80495e45eddf64c6525fb582d8db68f256b71)
- 2026-09-07: patched: Fix included in Linux stable trees