Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4 RDMA/mlx5 mlx5_odp_populate_xlt memory leak

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.5	$0-$5k	0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as very critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4. Affected is the function mlx5_odp_populate_xlt of the component RDMA/mlx5. Such manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-74396. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4. It has been rated as very critical. Affected by this issue is the function mlx5_odp_populate_xlt of the component RDMA/mlx5. 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 confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/mlx5: Fix UMR XLT cleanup on ODP populate failure mlx5r_umr_update_xlt() allocates and DMA maps an XLT buffer with mlx5r_umr_create_xlt(). The buffer is released by the common cleanup path through mlx5r_umr_unmap_free_xlt(). After mlx5_odp_populate_xlt() became fallible, its error path returned directly and skipped that cleanup. This leaks the XLT DMA mapping and buffer. If the emergency XLT page was used, it also leaves xlt_emergency_page_mutex locked. Break out of the loop so execution falls through the existing cleanup path.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-74396 since 08/15/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1499.

Upgrading to version 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ffa85a2c197935ace6f1634ad9eb0a44bc615670/9619909d4869afe720904c6888a289b9ac3055b8/1eae35b37923cb71b0cb5136d00671440d488b9f is able to eliminate this problem.

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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
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
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CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
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CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory leak
CWE: CWE-401 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: ffa85a2c197935ace6f1634ad9eb0a44bc615670/9619909d4869afe720904c6888a289b9ac3055b8/1eae35b37923cb71b0cb5136d00671440d488b9f

Timelineinfo

08/15/2026 Advisory disclosed
08/15/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-74396 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-74396
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390356

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 10:19
Changes: 08/15/2026 10:19 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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