Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-23150

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.249 / 5.15.199 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfc: llcp: Fix memleak in nfc_llcp_send_ui_frame(). syzbot reported various memory leaks related to NFC, struct nfc_llcp_sock, sk_buff, nfc_dev, etc. [0] The leading log hinted that nfc_llcp_send_ui_frame() failed to allocate skb due to sock_error(sk) being -ENXIO. ENXIO is set by nfc_llcp_socket_release() when struct nfc_llcp_local is destroyed by local_cleanup(). The problem is that there is no synchronisation between nfc_llcp_send_ui_frame() and local_cleanup(), and skb could be put into local->tx_queue after it was purged in local_cleanup(): CPU1 CPU2 ---- ---- nfc_llcp_send_ui_frame() local_cleanup() |- do { ' |- pdu = nfc_alloc_send_skb(..., &err) | . | |- nfc_llcp_socket_release(local, false, ENXIO); | |- skb_queue_purge(&local->tx_queue); | | ' | |- skb_queue_tail(&local->tx_queue, pdu); | ... | |- pdu = nfc_alloc_send_skb(..., &err) | ^._________________________________.' local_cleanup() is called for struct nfc_llcp_local only after nfc_llcp_remove_local() unlinks it from llcp_devices. If we hold local->tx_queue.lock then, we can synchronise the thread and nfc_llcp_send_ui_frame(). Let's do that and check list_empty(&local->list) before queuing skb to local->tx_queue in nfc_llcp_send_ui_frame(). [0]: [ 56.074943][ T6096] llcp: nfc_llcp_send_ui_frame: Could not allocate PDU (error=-6) [ 64.318868][ T5813] kmemleak: 6 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff8881272f6800 (size 1024): comm "syz.0.17", pid 6096, jiffies 4294942766 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 27 00 03 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 '..@............ backtrace (crc da58d84d): kmemleak_alloc_recursive include/linux/kmemleak.h:44 [inline] slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:4979 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:5284 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:5645 [inline] __kmalloc_noprof+0x3e3/0x6b0 mm/slub.c:5658 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:961 [inline] sk_prot_alloc+0x11a/0x1b0 net/core/sock.c:2239 sk_alloc+0x36/0x360 net/core/sock.c:2295 nfc_llcp_sock_alloc+0x37/0x130 net/nfc/llcp_sock.c:979 llcp_sock_create+0x71/0xd0 net/nfc/llcp_sock.c:1044 nfc_sock_create+0xc9/0xf0 net/nfc/af_nfc.c:31 __sock_create+0x1a9/0x340 net/socket.c:1605 sock_create net/socket.c:1663 [inline] __sys_socket_create net/socket.c:1700 [inline] __sys_socket+0xb9/0x1a0 net/socket.c:1747 __do_sys_socket net/socket.c:1761 [inline] __se_sys_socket net/socket.c:1759 [inline] __x64_sys_socket+0x1b/0x30 net/socket.c:1759 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xa4/0xfa0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff88810fbd9800 (size 240): comm "syz.0.17", pid 6096, jiffies 4294942850 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 68 f0 ff 08 81 88 ff ff 68 f0 ff 08 81 88 ff ff h.......h....... 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 68 2f 27 81 88 ff ff .........h/'.... backtrace (crc 6cc652b1): kmemleak_alloc_recursive include/linux/kmemleak.h:44 [inline] slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:4979 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:5284 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof+0x36f/0x5e0 mm/slub.c:5336 __alloc_skb+0x203/0x240 net/core/skbuff.c:660 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1383 [inline] alloc_skb_with_frags+0x69/0x3f0 net/core/sk ---truncated---

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 3.8, < 5.10.249>= 5.11, < 5.15.199>= 5.16, < 6.1.162>= 6.2, < 6.6.123>= 6.7, < 6.12.69>= 6.13, < 6.18.9= 6.19

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.249 / 5.15.199 / 6.1.162 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2495.15.1996.1.162
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to one of: 5.10.249, 5.15.199, 6.1.162, or 6.6.123 (whichever is the next stable release above your current version)

  1. Identify current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine the appropriate target version based on current kernel: if < 5.10.249, upgrade to >= 5.10.249; if >= 5.11 and < 5.15.199, upgrade to >= 5.15.199; if >= 5.16 and < 6.1.162, upgrade to >= 6.1.162; if >= 6.2 and < 6.6.123, upgrade to >= 6.6.123
  3. Obtain the stable kernel for your distribution from vendor repositories (e.g., apt-get dist-upgrade, yum update, or dnf upgrade)
  4. Reboot into the new kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches the target fixed release
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree modules; ensure compatible drivers are available before rebooting

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-23150 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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