Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 ice ice_init_hw/ice_deinit_hw 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.
6.0	$0-$5k	0.16+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. Affected by this issue is the function ice_init_hw/ice_deinit_hw of the component ice. Executing a manipulation can lead to memory leak. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-97979. The attack may be performed from remote. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. This vulnerability affects the function ice_init_hw/ice_deinit_hw of the component ice. 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 confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: add missing xa_destroy for sched_node_ids Commit 16dfa49406bc ("ice: Introduce new parameters in ice_sched_node") added a sched_node_ids xarray to the port info structure, but never called xa_destroy on it. Since xarrays can allocate internal memory, this can result in a memory leak even if every element in the xarray has been removed. The xarray is currently embedded in the port_info structure. This appears to have been done because its use is within functions that take the port_info as a primary argument. However, this complicates managing the lifecycle of the field. The port_info structure is allocated in ice_init_hw() using devm, and it is not released until the devm cleanup when the driver is unloaded. The ice_init_hw() function is called in many places, including devlink reload, and possibly during DDP load after updating the Tx scheduler layout. Adding a call of xa_destroy to the ice_deinit_hw() causes Sashiko to raise multiple concerns due to potential ordering issues and possible ways that port_info could be a dangling reference. To handle this, move the sched_node_ids out of port_info and into the hw structure. All users of the array already have a pointer to hw anyways, and there is only one sched_node_ids per adapter. While here, remove the overly verbose comment explaining the nature of the sched_node_ids xarray. Add the missing xa_destroy to the cleanup path and to ice_deinit_hw(), ensuring that we properly release the xarray memory. This was caught by Sashiko during development of unrelated code.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-97979 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/25/2026). This vulnerability is assigned to T1499 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

Upgrading to version 6.12.111, 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 44cdd6b7e036303f7fecf841cf23c05a4a4faf2d/f5463bc124c0d6f922e272336584730c5c61c4f1/d6f38fb12069fb1edf762962b5fcf3f42d643b47/53432c4c3e869076350aef319534431af8ba99c1 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.110
• 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
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2

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: 6.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.0

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.0
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 6.12.111/6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3
Patch: 44cdd6b7e036303f7fecf841cf23c05a4a4faf2d/f5463bc124c0d6f922e272336584730c5c61c4f1/d6f38fb12069fb1edf762962b5fcf3f42d643b47/53432c4c3e869076350aef319534431af8ba99c1

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 Advisory disclosed
09/25/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-97979 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-97979
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410158

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 15:12
Changes: 09/25/2026 15:12 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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