CVE-2026-90233 nvme-pci: release descriptor pools on probe failure
A memory leak in the Linux kernel NVMe driver occurs during probe failure, potentially leading to resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- 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-2026-90233?
CVE-2026-90233 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 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:
nvme-pci: release descriptor pools on probe failure
The per-NUMA-node descriptor DMA pools are created lazily from nvme_init_hctx_common() once the admin tag set is allocated, but they are only destroyed in nvme_remove() via nvme_release_descriptor_pools(). Any probe failure after the admin tag set has been allocated unwinds through the out_disable label and nvme_pci_free_ctrl(), neither of which releases the pools, leaking the dma_pool objects.
Release the descriptor pools in the out_disable error path. It must not be added to nvme_pci_free_ctrl(), as that would double-free against nvme_remove() on the normal teardown path.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90233?
How do I fix CVE-2026-90233?
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-2026-90233 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90233 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-90233, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90233, GHSA-jqrr-g5gr-9xjv, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90233.