CVE-2026-23261

Service interruption via leaked NVMe/FC admin tagsets

Published Mar 18, 2026 · Updated Mar 18, 2026

Resource leakage in the Linux kernel NVMe/FC host driver allows local users to exhaust memory by repeatedly aborting controller setup. After nvme_fc_init_ctrl() allocates admin blk-mq resources, its fail_ctrl path drops controller references without freeing the admin queue and tag set when later initialization steps fail. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access to create NVMe/FC controllers and force setup failures; repeated attempts can deplete kernel memory and interrupt service.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.11%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource leakage in the Linux kernel NVMe/FC host driver allows local users to exhaust memory by repeatedly aborting controller setup. After nvme_fc_init_ctrl() allocates admin blk-mq resources, its fail_ctrl path drops controller references without freeing the admin queue and tag set when later initialization steps fail. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access to create NVMe/FC controllers and force setup failures; repeated attempts can deplete kernel memory and interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-23261
Published
Mar 18, 2026
Updated
Mar 18, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7c54d3f5ebbc5982daaa004260242dc07ac943ea
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b134dead095bc5a58fa2b98b90ae93428cb4b328
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d1877cc7270302081a315a81a0ee8331f19f95c8
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <e810b290922c535feb34bc90ab549446fe94d2a3
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <fa301aef50e3f3b5be6ee53457608beae5aa7a01

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7c54d3f5ebbc5982daaa004260242dc07ac943ea; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <b134dead095bc5a58fa2b98b90ae93428cb4b328; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d1877cc7270302081a315a81a0ee8331f19f95c8; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <e810b290922c535feb34bc90ab549446fe94d2a3; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <fa301aef50e3f3b5be6ee53457608beae5aa7a01

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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

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Your stack

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