# CVE-2026-98560: net/rds: size a connection's path set by the transport it ends up with

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel RDS module allows local attackers to exhaust system memory by creating multiple connections to local addresses.

- **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:** 18 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98560, GHSA-7pw9-5jf8-r7cw, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98560

## What is CVE-2026-98560?

CVE-2026-98560 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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/rds: size a connection's path set by the transport it ends up with

__rds_conn_create() computes npaths from the caller's transport before
it decides whether a connection to one of the host's own addresses is
to be handled by the loopback transport instead.  That substitution is
what an RDS/TCP socket sending to a local address gets, and after it
the path init loop still runs for the TCP transport's RDS_MPATH_WORKERS
paths and allocates an ordered workqueue for each, while
rds_loop_conn_alloc() only ever provides transport data for path 0.

rds_conn_destroy() sizes its teardown from c_trans, by then the
loopback transport, so it visits path 0 only - and
rds_conn_path_destroy() would skip the other paths anyway, since it
returns before destroy_workqueue() for a path without transport data.
kfree(c_path) then drops the last pointers to seven workqueues.  That
repeats for every such connection, on every netns teardown or module
unload, and every distinct local destination address is a separate
connection.

Recompute npaths once the transport is final, so that creation and
destruction agree on the set of paths.  The c_path array stays sized
for the caller's transport; the unused entries are freed with it.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98560?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98560?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98560 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98560 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98560 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98560 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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-2026-98560 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-2026-98560/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98560/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98560
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98560
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98560

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98560/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.