# CVE-2026-43157: octeontx2-af: CGX: fix bitmap leaks

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel octeontx2-af driver allows attackers to cause denial of service by repeatedly unbinding and rebinding the driver.

- **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:** 6 May 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-43157, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43157, GHSA-vgjg-qrh9-w8x6, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-43157, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43157

## What is CVE-2026-43157?

CVE-2026-43157 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 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:

octeontx2-af: CGX: fix bitmap leaks

The RX/TX flow-control bitmaps (rx_fc_pfvf_bmap and tx_fc_pfvf_bmap)
are allocated by cgx_lmac_init() but never freed in cgx_lmac_exit().
Unbinding and rebinding the driver therefore triggers kmemleak:

    unreferenced object (size 16):
        backtrace:
          rvu_alloc_bitmap
          cgx_probe

Free both bitmaps during teardown.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-43157?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-43157?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-43157 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-43157 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-2026-43157 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-43157 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 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-2026-43157 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-2026-43157/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43157/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43157
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43157
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43157

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-43157/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.