# CVE-2026-46135: nvmet-tcp: fix race between ICReq handling and queue teardown

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's NVMe/TCP target allows a double-free of queue references, potentially causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 28 May 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-88923, BELL-CVE-2026-46135, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46135, GHSA-pp4w-65w8-f5f3, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-46135, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-46135, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-46135, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-46135, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46135

## What is CVE-2026-46135?

CVE-2026-46135 is a critical vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nvmet-tcp: fix race between ICReq handling and queue teardown

nvmet_tcp_handle_icreq() updates queue->state after sending an
Initialization Connection Response (ICResp), but it does so without
serializing against target-side queue teardown.

If an NVMe/TCP host sends an Initialization Connection Request
(ICReq) and immediately closes the connection, target-side teardown
may start in softirq context before io_work drains the already
buffered ICReq. In that case, nvmet_tcp_schedule_release_queue()
sets queue->state to NVMET_TCP_Q_DISCONNECTING and drops the queue
reference under state_lock.

If io_work later processes that ICReq, nvmet_tcp_handle_icreq() can
still overwrite the state back to NVMET_TCP_Q_LIVE. That defeats the
DISCONNECTING-state guard in nvmet_tcp_schedule_release_queue() and
allows a later socket state change to re-enter teardown and issue a
second kref_put() on an already released queue.

The ICResp send failure path has the same problem. If teardown has
already moved the queue to DISCONNECTING, a send error can still
overwrite the state with NVMET_TCP_Q_FAILED, again reopening the
window for a second teardown path to drop the queue reference.

Fix this by serializing both post-send state transitions with
state_lock and bailing out if teardown has already started.

Use -ESHUTDOWN as an internal sentinel for that bail-out path rather
than propagating it as a transport error like -ECONNRESET. Keep
nvmet_tcp_socket_error() setting rcv_state to NVMET_TCP_RECV_ERR before
honoring that sentinel so receive-side parsing stays quiesced until the
existing release path completes.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46135?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-46135?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-46135 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46135 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-2026-46135 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-46135 is a critical vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46135 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-2026-46135/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46135/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46135
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46135
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46135

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46135/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.