CVE-2026-90230 nvmet: fix heap out-of-bounds read in nvmet_auth_negotiate()
A malicious host can trigger a heap out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel NVMe target driver, potentially leaking memory or causing a crash.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-90230?
CVE-2026-90230 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
nvmet: fix heap out-of-bounds read in nvmet_auth_negotiate()
nvmet_execute_auth_send() allocates the DH-HMAC-CHAP message buffer with the host-supplied transfer length (tl) and hands it to nvmet_auth_negotiate() without passing tl along. nvmet_auth_negotiate() then reads the negotiate header and, for each of the halen hash identifiers and dhlen DH group identifiers, indexes into the fixed idlist[60] array (hashes at idlist[0..halen), groups at idlist[30..]).
Neither the transfer length nor halen/dhlen is validated. A malicious or non-conformant host can report a tl smaller than the negotiate structure, or a halen/dhlen larger than the array (both are u8, up to 255), making the loops read past the end of the allocated buffer (heap out-of-bounds read). The sibling nvmet_auth_reply() already validates tl against the structure size; the negotiate path did not.
Pass tl into nvmet_auth_negotiate(), reject a tl that does not cover the negotiate data plus one full protocol descriptor, and reject halen/dhlen larger than NVME_AUTH_DHCHAP_MAX_DH_IDS.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90230?
How do I fix CVE-2026-90230?
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-2026-90230 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90230 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-102626, BELL-CVE-2026-90230, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90230, GHSA-rrv7-jqj6-x46g, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90230.