# CVE-2026-97440: net: qrtr: fix node refcount leak on ctrl packet alloc failure

> A refcount leak in the Linux kernel QRTR subsystem can cause memory exhaustion and denial of service when control packet allocation fails.

- **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:** 24 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 3 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-103736, BELL-CVE-2026-97440, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97440, GHSA-x3xx-p253-pwh4, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97440

## What is CVE-2026-97440?

CVE-2026-97440 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:

net: qrtr: fix node refcount leak on ctrl packet alloc failure

qrtr_send_resume_tx() calls qrtr_node_lookup() which takes a
reference on the returned node. If the subsequent call to
qrtr_alloc_ctrl_packet() fails due to memory allocation failure, the
function returns -ENOMEM without calling qrtr_node_release() to
release the node reference.

Add qrtr_node_release(node) before returning on the allocation failure
path to properly release the reference.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97440?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97440?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-97440 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97440 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97440 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97440 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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-2026-97440 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-2026-97440/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97440/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97440
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97440
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97440

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97440/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.