The Linux kernel’s octeontx2‑pf driver contains a flaw where, during the initialization of SQ aura and pool resources, a failure in a later step causes the err_free_sq_ptrs routine to free only the SQB pages but leave the per‑SQ sqb_ptrs arrays untouched. These arrays hold kernel pointers to the freed pages, resulting in a memory resource leak that can expose kernel‑space addresses to an attacker. This defect corresponds to CWE‑772 (Resource Leak).

The affected commodity is the Linux kernel vendor’s octeontx2‑pf driver. Versions from the 6.13‑rc1 snapshot through at least 7.1.1 include the bug. Any Linux system that builds a kernel containing that driver and initializes an OcteonTX2 hardware instance is impacted. The defect is scoped to the kernel module, not tied to a specific vendor beyond the upstream Linux distribution.

The CVSS score of 5.5 indicates moderate severity. The EPSS score is reported as < 1 % and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog, suggesting a low probability of exploitation. The CVE notes that the pointer leak occurs only on an initialization failure; therefore, exploitation would require triggering that failure path, which is typically unique to a particular hardware or configuration state. The likely attack vector therefore involves forcing a driver failure to obtain kernel addresses (inferred).