CVE-2026-43090
xfrm: fix refcount leak in xfrm_migrate_policy_find
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: fix refcount leak in xfrm_migrate_policy_find syzkaller reported a memory leak in xfrm_policy_alloc: BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888114d79000 (size 1024): comm "syz.1.17", pid 931 ... xfrm_policy_alloc+0xb3/0x4b0 net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c:432 The root cause is a double call to xfrm_pol_hold_rcu() in xfrm_migrate_policy_find(). The lookup function already returns a policy with held reference, making the second call redundant. Remove the redundant xfrm_pol_hold_rcu() call to fix the refcount imbalance and prevent the memory leak. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.
INFO
Published Date :
May 6, 2026, 10:16 a.m.
Last Modified :
May 6, 2026, 1:08 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Solution
- Remove the redundant xfrm_pol_hold_rcu() call.
- Apply the kernel patch to fix the refcount imbalance.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
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CVE-2026-43090.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
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associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
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stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-43090
weaknesses.
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New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
May. 06, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: fix refcount leak in xfrm_migrate_policy_find syzkaller reported a memory leak in xfrm_policy_alloc: BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888114d79000 (size 1024): comm "syz.1.17", pid 931 ... xfrm_policy_alloc+0xb3/0x4b0 net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c:432 The root cause is a double call to xfrm_pol_hold_rcu() in xfrm_migrate_policy_find(). The lookup function already returns a policy with held reference, making the second call redundant. Remove the redundant xfrm_pol_hold_rcu() call to fix the refcount imbalance and prevent the memory leak. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller. Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/21e235a36cfb6d145cefb10728f12f5dc5412f54 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70c2a89a3bc207c3bfbf6f21bb439809e0a4a27a Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83317cce60a032c49480dcdabe146435bd689d03 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/836ee1b0426ea3db31531e9581cc32f513d24e32