Linux Kernel up to 7.2.2 xfrm xfrm_state_construct 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.
7.2	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.2. It has been rated as critical. This vulnerability affects the function xfrm_state_construct of the component xfrm. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-80843. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.2. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function xfrm_state_construct of the component xfrm. 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: xfrm: fix xfrm_state_construct() auth-trunc leak attach_auth_trunc() can allocate x->aalg while leaving x->props.aalgo at zero when the selected auth algorithm has no sadb_alg_id. One real case is cmac(aes). xfrm_state_construct() then treats !x->props.aalgo as "no auth algorithm attached yet" and calls attach_auth(). That overwrites x->aalg and loses the first allocation. Any later failure or teardown only frees the replacement pointer. Check whether x->aalg is already attached instead of inferring that state from x->props.aalgo.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-80843 since 08/26/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/04/2026). The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1499 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

Upgrading to version 5.10.269, 5.15.220, 6.1.187, 6.6.156, 6.12.108, 6.18.49, 7.1.13, 7.2.3 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 958ae9f261319e1cdc44879886bcda2263258cca/fb7f3e74789a3c89647f4eb768f6dfaf4a751e72/ba0c110c205855b3f1e3130d8c0fdb484d704c8c/c8837bbe792257af547fd1c0252553ce13148795/71d42da01740ec6557837bebec0bc48cfc3b4c39/cf67361e78dca488d6e4df8396a53e6745a3a80e/37426395cb90ef217beec8407a14bd82153793d3/be19d20e53a239572bb2a28efcc1cd2b069b1ef9/c12cbf56320fb633484ee0ca1fb7d68d6b64b213 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.268
• 5.15.219
• 6.1.186
• 6.6.155
• 6.12.107
• 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
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4
• 7.1.5
• 7.1.6
• 7.1.7
• 7.1.8
• 7.1.9
• 7.1.10
• 7.1.11
• 7.1.12
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.2

VulDB Base Score: 7.5
VulDB Temp Score: 7.2
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 5.10.269/5.15.220/6.1.187/6.6.156/6.12.108/6.18.49/7.1.13/7.2.3/7.3-rc1
Patch: 958ae9f261319e1cdc44879886bcda2263258cca/fb7f3e74789a3c89647f4eb768f6dfaf4a751e72/ba0c110c205855b3f1e3130d8c0fdb484d704c8c/c8837bbe792257af547fd1c0252553ce13148795/71d42da01740ec6557837bebec0bc48cfc3b4c39/cf67361e78dca488d6e4df8396a53e6745a3a80e/37426395cb90ef217beec8407a14bd82153793d3/be19d20e53a239572bb2a28efcc1cd2b069b1ef9/c12cbf56320fb633484ee0ca1fb7d68d6b64b213

Timelineinfo

08/26/2026 CVE reserved
09/04/2026 +9 days Advisory disclosed
09/04/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/04/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-80843 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-80843
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-398951

Entryinfo

Created: 09/04/2026 18:30
Changes: 09/04/2026 18:30 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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