Linux Kernel up to 6.6.122/6.12.68/6.18.8 octeon_ep octep_device_setup memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.122/6.12.68/6.18.8. The affected element is the function octep_device_setup of the component octeon_ep. Performing a manipulation results in memory leak. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-23160. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.122/6.12.68/6.18.8. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function octep_device_setup of the component octeon_ep. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeon_ep: Fix memory leak in octep_device_setup() In octep_device_setup(), if octep_ctrl_net_init() fails, the function returns directly without unmapping the mapped resources and freeing the allocated configuration memory. Fix this by jumping to the unsupported_dev label, which performs the necessary cleanup. This aligns with the error handling logic of other paths in this function. Compile tested only. Issue found using a prototype static analysis tool and code review.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-23160 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 299222 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23160), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.123, 6.12.69 or 6.18.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 5058d3f8f17202e673f90af1446252322bd0850f/fdfd28e13c244d7c3345e74f339fd1b67605b694/d753f3c3f9d7a6e6dbb4d3a97b73007d71624551/8016dc5ee19a77678c264f8ba368b1e873fa705b 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 (299222) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0421). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.122
• 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
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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