# CVE-2026-23330: nfc: nci: complete pending data exchange on device close

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel NFC subsystem allows attackers to cause denial of service by exhausting kernel memory through pending data exchanges.

- **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:** 25 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23330, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23330, GHSA-vjm5-v2mx-wqmv, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23330, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23330, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23330, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23330, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23330, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23330

## What is CVE-2026-23330?

CVE-2026-23330 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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:

nfc: nci: complete pending data exchange on device close

In nci_close_device(), complete any pending data exchange before
closing. The data exchange callback (e.g.
rawsock_data_exchange_complete) holds a socket reference.

NIPA occasionally hits this leak:

unreferenced object 0xff1100000f435000 (size 2048):
  comm "nci_dev", pid 3954, jiffies 4295441245
  hex dump (first 32 bytes):
    00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................
    27 00 01 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  '..@............
  backtrace (crc ec2b3c5):
    __kmalloc_noprof+0x4db/0x730
    sk_prot_alloc.isra.0+0xe4/0x1d0
    sk_alloc+0x36/0x760
    rawsock_create+0xd1/0x540
    nfc_sock_create+0x11f/0x280
    __sock_create+0x22d/0x630
    __sys_socket+0x115/0x1d0
    __x64_sys_socket+0x72/0xd0
    do_syscall_64+0x117/0xfc0
    entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23330?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23330?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23330 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23330 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-2026-23330 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23330 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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-2026-23330 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-2026-23330/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23330/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23330
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23330
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23330

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23330/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.