Memory leakage via incomplete probe-failure cleanup
Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026
Memory leakage in Linux 6.16 nvme-pci allows local users to consume kernel resources through failed NVMe PCI device probes. In drivers/nvme/host/pci.c, the out_disable path omits release of descriptor DMA pools created by nvme_init_hctx_common(). Exposure requires a probe failure after admin tag-set allocation; repeated failures leak resources, but no specific crash or attacker-controlled trigger is documented.
Summary
What happened
Memory leakage in Linux 6.16 nvme-pci allows local users to consume kernel resources through failed NVMe PCI device probes. In drivers/nvme/host/pci.c, the out_disable path omits release of descriptor DMA pools created by nvme_init_hctx_common(). Exposure requires a probe failure after admin tag-set allocation; repeated failures leak resources, but no specific crash or attacker-controlled trigger is documented.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-90233
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 17, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-772
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 17, 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.
- Affected versionversion=6.16
- Affected versionversion=d977506f8863807129d7a11f4057dfb1b38085ea <79fb405966edb5065234440d94cc75bfd7b01f41
- Affected versionversion=d977506f8863807129d7a11f4057dfb1b38085ea <c25b6b28a35f9e36ce5dd6da5905bcddb2128707
- Affected versionversion=d977506f8863807129d7a11f4057dfb1b38085ea <cb144c2f67128abfa5c7ba33318617d19f192156
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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