# 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.

- **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:** 11 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-100550, BELL-CVE-2026-80988, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-80988, GHSA-hx33-h33p-95h8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-80988

## 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.

## Is CVE-2026-80988 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80988 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-80988 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80988 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-2026-80988/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-80988/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-80988
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80988
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-80988

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-80988/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.