Linux Kernel up to 6.18.21/6.19.11 usb usb_submit_urb memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.21/6.19.11. It has been rated as critical. The affected element is the function usb_submit_urb of the component usb. This manipulation causes memory leak. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-31757. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.21/6.19.11. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function usb_submit_urb of the component usb. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: misc: usbio: Fix URB memory leak on submit failure When usb_submit_urb() fails in usbio_probe(), the previously allocated URB is never freed, causing a memory leak. Fix this by jumping to err_free_urb label to properly release the URB on the error path.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-31757 since 03/09/2026. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 311726 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-31757), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.18.22 or 6.19.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 65ff09f48b0e72e4049096a989723406aabcf091/1762dc43b983d321180582afba4a0c5185fae04c/33cfe0709b6bf1a7f1a16d5e8d65d003a71b6a21 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 vulnerability database at Tenable (311726). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.19.0
• 6.19.1
• 6.19.2
• 6.19.3
• 6.19.4
• 6.19.5
• 6.19.6
• 6.19.7
• 6.19.8
• 6.19.9
• 6.19.10
• 6.19.11

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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

Discussion