Memory consumption via uncleared flow steering entries
Published Jan 31, 2026 · Updated Jan 31, 2026
Memory leak in the Linux kernel idpf driver 6.17 through 6.18.5 allows local users to consume kernel memory during module removal. The idpf teardown path leaves flow-steering list allocations live instead of iterating over remaining entries and freeing their associated memory. The triggering path requires active flow-steering entries when the idpf module is removed; the documented consequence is unreleased kernel memory.
Summary
What happened
Memory leak in the Linux kernel idpf driver 6.17 through 6.18.5 allows local users to consume kernel memory during module removal. The idpf teardown path leaves flow-steering list allocations live instead of iterating over remaining entries and freeing their associated memory. The triggering path requires active flow-steering entries when the idpf module is removed; the documented consequence is unreleased kernel memory.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-23024
- Published
- Jan 31, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 31, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-401, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 31, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 31, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.17
- Affected versionversion=ada3e24b84a097b27a823f1ad98e5b2e8c979689 <1aedff70a5e97628eaaf17b169774cb6a45a1dc5
- Affected versionversion=ada3e24b84a097b27a823f1ad98e5b2e8c979689 <f9841bd28b600526ca4f6713b0ca49bf7bb98452
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo