CVE-2026-45964 SUNRPC: fix gss_auth kref leak in gss_alloc_msg error path
A memory leak in the Linux kernel SUNRPC module can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service when specific error paths are triggered.
- 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-2026-45964?
CVE-2026-45964 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 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:
SUNRPC: fix gss_auth kref leak in gss_alloc_msg error path
Commit 5940d1cf9f42 ("SUNRPC: Rebalance a kref in auth_gss.c") added a kref_get(&gss_auth->kref) call to balance the gss_put_auth() done in gss_release_msg(), but forgot to add a corresponding kref_put() on the error path when kstrdup_const() fails.
If service_name is non-NULL and kstrdup_const() fails, the function jumps to err_put_pipe_version which calls put_pipe_version() and kfree(gss_msg), but never releases the gss_auth reference. This leads to a kref leak where the gss_auth structure is never freed.
Add a forward declaration for gss_free_callback() and call kref_put() in the err_put_pipe_version error path to properly release the reference taken earlier.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45964?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-45964?
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-2026-45964 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45964 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-45964, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45964, GHSA-7m86-h2jr-vw87, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-45964, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45964, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45964.