CVE-2026-80988 NTB: ntb_transport: Fail TX enqueue when the QP link is down
A memory leak in the Linux kernel NTB transport driver allows attackers to cause denial of service by exhausting memory when transmitting packets while the link is down.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-80988?
CVE-2026-80988 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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:
NTB: ntb_transport: Fail TX enqueue when the QP link is down
Commit f195a1a6fe41 ("ntb: Drop packets when qp link is down") meant to make ntb_transport_tx_enqueue() drop packets submitted while the QP link is down, but it only returns 0 without consuming the packet. Zero means success by this function's contract, so ntb_netdev reports NETDEV_TX_OK and forgets the skb: nothing queued it, nothing frees it, and it leaks, one skb for every transmit racing a link-down.
Return -ENOLINK instead, restoring the contract that a non-zero return leaves the buffer owned by the caller. With the preceding patch, ntb_netdev frees the skb on non-retryable enqueue failures and returns NETDEV_TX_OK, so a packet racing with link-down is dropped without leaking or entering a busy retry loop.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-80988?
How do I fix CVE-2026-80988?
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-2026-80988 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80988 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-100550, BELL-CVE-2026-80988, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-80988, GHSA-hx33-h33p-95h8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-80988.