# CVE-2026-22994: bpf: Fix reference count leak in bpf_prog_test_run_xdp()

> A reference count leak in the Linux kernel's BPF test run function can cause network devices to hang, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-22994, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-22994, GHSA-8r55-jh7v-855p, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-22994, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-22994, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-22994, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-22994

## What is CVE-2026-22994?

CVE-2026-22994 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf: Fix reference count leak in bpf_prog_test_run_xdp()

syzbot is reporting

  unregister_netdevice: waiting for sit0 to become free. Usage count = 2

problem. A debug printk() patch found that a refcount is obtained at
xdp_convert_md_to_buff() from bpf_prog_test_run_xdp().

According to commit ec94670fcb3b ("bpf: Support specifying ingress via
xdp_md context in BPF_PROG_TEST_RUN"), the refcount obtained by
xdp_convert_md_to_buff() will be released by xdp_convert_buff_to_md().

Therefore, we can consider that the error handling path introduced by
commit 1c1949982524 ("bpf: introduce frags support to
bpf_prog_test_run_xdp()") forgot to call xdp_convert_buff_to_md().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-22994?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-22994?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-22994 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22994 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-22994 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-22994 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22994 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22994/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22994/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-22994
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22994
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-22994

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22994/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.