CVE-2026-23258 net: liquidio: Initialize netdev pointer before queue setup
A memory leak in the Liquidio network driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service if queue setup fails.
- 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-2026-23258?
CVE-2026-23258 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: Initialize netdev pointer before queue setup
In setup_nic_devices(), the netdev is allocated using alloc_etherdev_mq(). However, the pointer to this structure is stored in oct->props[i].netdev only after the calls to netif_set_real_num_rx_queues() and netif_set_real_num_tx_queues().
If either of these functions fails, setup_nic_devices() returns an error without freeing the allocated netdev. Since oct->props[i].netdev is still NULL at this point, the cleanup function liquidio_destroy_nic_device() will fail to find and free the netdev, resulting in a memory leak.
Fix this by initializing oct->props[i].netdev before calling the queue setup functions. This ensures that the netdev is properly accessible for cleanup in case of errors.
Compile tested only. Issue found using a prototype static analysis tool and code review.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23258?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23258?
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-2026-23258 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23258 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23258, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23258, GHSA-qv92-hwc3-chxf, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23258, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23258, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23258.