# CVE-2026-53364: Bluetooth: hci_conn: Fix memory leak in hci_le_big_terminate()

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel Bluetooth subsystem allows attackers to cause a denial of service by exhausting system memory.

- **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:** 13 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-53364, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53364, GHSA-pc8p-4pfj-fgm2, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53364

## What is CVE-2026-53364?

CVE-2026-53364 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 13 Jul 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:

Bluetooth: hci_conn: Fix memory leak in hci_le_big_terminate()

hci_le_big_terminate() allocates iso_list_data via kzalloc_obj but
returns 0 without freeing it when neither pa_sync_term nor big_sync_term
flags are set after evaluating the PA and BIG sync connection state.

This early-return path was introduced when hci_le_big_terminate() was
refactored to take struct hci_conn instead of raw u8 parameters, adding
PA/BIG flag evaluation logic. The existing kfree() on hci_cmd_sync_queue
failure does not cover this path.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53364?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53364?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53364 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53364 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-2026-53364 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53364 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 13 Jul 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-2026-53364 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-2026-53364/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53364/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53364
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53364
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53364

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53364/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.