CVE-2026-23258: net: liquidio: Initialize netdev pointer before queue setup

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-03-18 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: liquidio: Initialize netdev pointer before queue setup In setup_nic_devices(), the netdev is allocated using alloc_etherdev_mq(). However, the pointer to this structure is stored in oct->props[i].netdev only after the calls to netif_set_real_num_rx_queues() and netif_set_real_num_tx_queues(). If either of these functions fails, setup_nic_devices() returns an error without freeing the allocated netdev. Since oct->props[i].netdev is still NULL at this point, the cleanup function liquidio_destroy_nic_device() will fail to find and free the netdev, resulting in a memory leak. Fix this by initializing oct->props[i].netdev before calling the queue setup functions. This ensures that the netdev is properly accessible for cleanup in case of errors. Compile tested only. Issue found using a prototype static analysis tool and code review.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 4.18 before 5.10.250; from 5.11 before 5.15.200; from 5.16 before 6.1.163; from 6.2 before 6.6.124; from 6.7 before 6.12.70; from 6.13 before 6.18.10 — fixed in 5.10.250, 5.15.200, 6.1.163, 6.12.70, 6.18.10, 6.6.124

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.250, 5.15.200, 6.1.163, 6.12.70. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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