# CVE-2026-72329: net/liquidio: drop cached VF pci_dev LUT

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the LiquidIO network driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code via cached VF pointers.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-96435, BELL-CVE-2026-72329, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72329, GHSA-5c72-mrqj-9c57, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72329

## What is CVE-2026-72329?

CVE-2026-72329 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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/liquidio: drop cached VF pci_dev LUT

The PF SR-IOV enable path caches VF pci_dev pointers in
dpiring_to_vfpcidev_lut[] by iterating with pci_get_device(). Those
entries do not own a reference, because the iterator drops the previous
device reference on each step. The cached pointer is then dereferenced
later when handling OCTEON_VF_FLR_REQUEST.

Replace the cached VF mapping with runtime lookup on the mailbox DPI
ring: derive the VF index from q_no, resolve the VF via exported PCI
IOV helpers, validate it with the PF pointer and VF ID, then issue
pcie_flr() and drop the reference with pci_dev_put(). Remove the
unused VF lookup table initialization and cleanup.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72329?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72329?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72329 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72329 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72329 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72329 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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-2026-72329 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-72329/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72329/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72329
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72329
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72329

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72329/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.