# 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.

- **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:** 18 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **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

## 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 (Off-by-one Error)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23256?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23256?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## 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

- [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-2026-23256 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23256 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-2026-23256/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23256/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23256
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23256
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23256

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23256/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.