CVE-2026-90233: nvme-pci: release descriptor pools on probe failure

Severity: unknown
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-09-17 · updated 2026-10-19

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.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 6.16 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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