CVE-2026-89975Public exploitHinoki check available

Kernel memory exhaustion via unfreed malformed secrets

Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026

Memory leak in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory by repeatedly submitting malformed NVMe DHCHAP secrets. nvmf_parse_options() duplicates each secret before validation, then returns without freeing the temporary string when its DHHC-1 representation is invalid. Reachability requires CONFIG_NVME_HOST_AUTH and permission to write to /dev/nvme-fabrics; no NVMe-oF target or working transport is required.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probabilityUnavailable
No score available in this record
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkAvailable
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory by repeatedly submitting malformed NVMe DHCHAP secrets. nvmf_parse_options() duplicates each secret before validation, then returns without freeing the temporary string when its DHHC-1 representation is invalid. Reachability requires CONFIG_NVME_HOST_AUTH and permission to write to /dev/nvme-fabrics; no NVMe-oF target or working transport is required.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-89975
Published
Sep 16, 2026
Updated
Sep 16, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 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=6.0
  2. Affected versionversion=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <15d7a35a489287109b5a7c157d53d9b8214f0318
  3. Affected versionversion=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <702c1ae0d31b44828ec3c87079def490c1ee1fb3
  4. Affected versionversion=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <afdee49a1b88ed9bb44e2b30e855297c169bcc53
  5. Affected versionversion=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <d21da6cc91ba1c4f1ae5ba007f3cb89e1c0c7549

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.0; version=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <15d7a35a489287109b5a7c157d53d9b8214f0318; version=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <702c1ae0d31b44828ec3c87079def490c1ee1fb3; version=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <afdee49a1b88ed9bb44e2b30e855297c169bcc53; version=f50fff73d620cd6e8f48bc58d4f1c944615a3fea <d21da6cc91ba1c4f1ae5ba007f3cb89e1c0c7549

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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.

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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
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

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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