Linux Kernel up to 6.6.121/6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5 gs_usb_receive_bulk_callback memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.121/6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5. It has been classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function gs_usb_receive_bulk_callback. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-23031. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.121/6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function gs_usb_receive_bulk_callback. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: gs_usb: gs_usb_receive_bulk_callback(): fix URB memory leak In gs_can_open(), the URBs for USB-in transfers are allocated, added to the parent->rx_submitted anchor and submitted. In the complete callback gs_usb_receive_bulk_callback(), the URB is processed and resubmitted. In gs_can_close() the URBs are freed by calling usb_kill_anchored_urbs(parent->rx_submitted). However, this does not take into account that the USB framework unanchors the URB before the complete function is called. This means that once an in-URB has been completed, it is no longer anchored and is ultimately not released in gs_can_close(). Fix the memory leak by anchoring the URB in the gs_usb_receive_bulk_callback() to the parent->rx_submitted anchor.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-23031 since 01/13/2026. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 297473 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23031), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.122, 6.12.67, 6.18.7 or 6.19-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f905bcfa971edb89e398c98957838d8c6381c0c7/08624b7206ddb9148eeffc2384ebda2c47b6d1e9/9f669a38ca70839229b7ba0f851820850a2fe1f7/7352e1d5932a0e777e39fa4b619801191f57e603 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (297473), EUVD (EUVD-2026-5063) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0280). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.121
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.19-rc1
• 6.19-rc2
• 6.19-rc3
• 6.19-rc4
• 6.19-rc5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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