# CVE-2026-74525: net: sxgbe: free TX rings on RX allocation failure

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel sxgbe network driver occurs when RX ring allocation fails, potentially leading to resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 19 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-96195, BELL-CVE-2026-74525, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74525, GHSA-45w5-jffw-4g9x, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74525

## What is CVE-2026-74525?

CVE-2026-74525 is a memory corruption 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: sxgbe: free TX rings on RX allocation failure

When RX descriptor ring allocation fails, init_dma_desc_rings() only
frees the partially allocated RX rings and returns. The TX rings that
were allocated earlier in the same function are leaked.

Rearrange error labels to clean up TX rings upon RX failures.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74525?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74525?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74525 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74525 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74525 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74525 is a memory corruption 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-2026-74525 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-2026-74525/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74525/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74525
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74525
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74525

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74525/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.