CVE-2026-23164 rocker: fix memory leak in rocker_world_port_post_fini()
A memory leak in the Linux kernel rocker driver allows attackers to cause denial of service by exhausting system memory through repeated port removals.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-23164?
CVE-2026-23164 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 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:
rocker: fix memory leak in rocker_world_port_post_fini()
In rocker_world_port_pre_init(), rocker_port->wpriv is allocated with kzalloc(wops->port_priv_size, GFP_KERNEL). However, in rocker_world_port_post_fini(), the memory is only freed when wops->port_post_fini callback is set:
if (!wops->port_post_fini) return; wops->port_post_fini(rocker_port); kfree(rocker_port->wpriv);
Since rocker_ofdpa_ops does not implement port_post_fini callback (it is NULL), the wpriv memory allocated for each port is never freed when ports are removed. This leads to a memory leak of sizeof(struct ofdpa_port) bytes per port on every device removal.
Fix this by always calling kfree(rocker_port->wpriv) regardless of whether the port_post_fini callback exists.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23164?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23164?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-23164 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23164 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-77781, BELL-CVE-2026-23164, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23164, GHSA-4chx-f5rg-w5pp, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23164, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23164 and 1 more.