# CVE-2026-43041: net: qrtr: replace qrtr_tx_flow radix_tree with xarray to fix memory leak

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel's QRTR network subsystem can lead 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:** 1 May 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-43041, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43041, GHSA-vpmp-q24v-v7p4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-43041, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-43041, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-43041, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43041

## What is CVE-2026-43041?

CVE-2026-43041 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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: qrtr: replace qrtr_tx_flow radix_tree with xarray to fix memory leak

__radix_tree_create() allocates and links intermediate nodes into the
tree one by one. If a subsequent allocation fails, the already-linked
nodes remain in the tree with no corresponding leaf entry. These orphaned
internal nodes are never reclaimed because radix_tree_for_each_slot()
only visits slots containing leaf values.

The radix_tree API is deprecated in favor of xarray. As suggested by
Matthew Wilcox, migrate qrtr_tx_flow from radix_tree to xarray instead
of fixing the radix_tree itself [1]. xarray properly handles cleanup of
internal nodes — xa_destroy() frees all internal xarray nodes when the
qrtr_node is released, preventing the leak.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260225071623.41275-1-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev/T/

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43041?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-43041?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-43041 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43041 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-2026-43041 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43041 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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-2026-43041 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-2026-43041/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43041/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43041
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43041
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43041

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43041/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.