# 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.

- **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-2026-23258, 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

## 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 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23258?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23258?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## 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

- [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-2026-23258 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23258 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-2026-23258/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23258/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23258
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23258
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23258

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23258/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.