CVE-2026-23256 net: liquidio: Fix off-by-one error in VF setup_nic_devices() cleanup
An off-by-one error in the Liquidio network driver cleanup path causes a memory leak, potentially leading to resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- 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-2026-23256?
CVE-2026-23256 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Mar 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:
net: liquidio: Fix off-by-one error in VF setup_nic_devices() cleanup
In setup_nic_devices(), the initialization loop jumps to the label setup_nic_dev_free on failure. The current cleanup loop while(i--) skip the failing index i, causing a memory leak.
Fix this by changing the loop to iterate from the current index i down to 0.
Compile tested only. Issue found using code review.
Weakness: CWE-193
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23256?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23256?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-23256 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23256 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23256, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23256, GHSA-wwv9-pvmj-9mc8, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23256, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23256, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23256.