CVE-2026-72448 - Vulnerability Details

- octeontx2-pf: Fix leak of SQ timestamp buffer on teardown

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

octeontx2-pf: Fix leak of SQ timestamp buffer on teardown

The send-queue timestamp ring is allocated with qmem_alloc() when
timestamping is used, but otx2_free_sq_res() never freed sq->timestamps,
leaking that memory across ifdown and device removal. Add the missing
qmem_free() alongside the other SQ companion buffers.

Published: 2026-08-15

Score: 5.5 Medium

EPSS: < 1% Very Low

KEV: No

Impact:

Action:

Analysis

Impact

The octeontx2-pf network driver allocates a send‑queue timestamp ring buffer when packet timestamping is enabled, but never frees that buffer when the interface is torn down or the device is removed. The retained kernel memory, which holds timestamp data, remains allocated beyond its intended lifetime, constituting a missing release of memory and resource safety flaw. This flaw is classified as CWE-772.

Affected Systems

All Linux kernel releases that include the octeontx2‑pf driver, typically used on OCTEON TX2 system‑on‑chip platforms. The driver is part of the upstream Linux kernel, so any system running the affected kernel on that hardware is subject to the vulnerability.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 5.5 indicates moderate severity. The EPSS score of <1% and absence from the CISA KEV catalog suggest a low current exploitation probability. Based on the description, it is inferred that the attack vector is local with elevated privileges; an attacker who can read kernel memory after the interface is torn down might access the leaked timestamp buffer. Remote exploitation is unlikely without additional access mechanisms.

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions

Linux

unaffected

Version	Status	Constraints
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< c642a530aaaeb9a3e356cedfe77955e7f983380e
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< e68ada66afcae0bc2a7c06b43c5a9a081d29e7b4
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< d6c0b0c802d3c49b86cad665a7f3790dc55a0394
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< 19d2d36e193c3fb515c052a56bfc83d8ac7b6764
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< e8e9dff204e8d8553495893e1a44d2b5021648de
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< 3d45d40b872aec0073d4cf08956a6c9b87c5e396
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< 452ec5058ea4ed63adae8d6beeac9ee687fe8061
`c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5`	affected	< a056db30de92945ff8ee6033096678bfbae878e3

Linux

affected

Version	Status	Constraints
`5.10`	affected	—
`0`	unaffected	< 5.10
`5.10.261`	unaffected	≤ 5.10.*
`5.15.212`	unaffected	≤ 5.15.*
`6.1.178`	unaffected	≤ 6.1.*
`6.6.145`	unaffected	≤ 6.6.*
`6.12.97`	unaffected	≤ 6.12.*
`6.18.40`	unaffected	≤ 6.18.*
`7.1.5`	unaffected	≤ 7.1.*
`7.2`	unaffected	≤ *

No data.

Vendor Product Confidence Versions

Linux

Linux Kernel

99%

Version	Status	Scheme	Platform
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,c642a530aaaeb9a3e356cedfe77955e7f983380e)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,e68ada66afcae0bc2a7c06b43c5a9a081d29e7b4)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,d6c0b0c802d3c49b86cad665a7f3790dc55a0394)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,19d2d36e193c3fb515c052a56bfc83d8ac7b6764)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,e8e9dff204e8d8553495893e1a44d2b5021648de)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,3d45d40b872aec0073d4cf08956a6c9b87c5e396)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,452ec5058ea4ed63adae8d6beeac9ee687fe8061)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[c9c12d339d93366732112d7ff472958834bfc3c5,a056db30de92945ff8ee6033096678bfbae878e3)`	affected	code_commit	—

Linux

Linux Kernel

99%

Version	Status	Scheme	Platform
`5.10`	affected	semver	—
`[0,5.10)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[5.10.261,5.11.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[5.15.212,5.16.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[6.1.178,6.2.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[6.6.145,6.7.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[6.12.97,6.13.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[6.18.40,6.19.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[7.1.5,7.2.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[7.2-rc1,*]`	unaffected	generic	—

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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

Apply the patch that inserts the missing qmem_free() call for the SQ timestamp ring, available in the kernel git revisions cited in the CVE references.
Rebuild, install, and reboot the kernel so that the updated driver is loaded.
If packet timestamping is not required on the octeontx2‑pf device, disable timestamping via the module parameter to prevent allocation of the timestamp buffer, thereby eliminating the leak.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 22, 2026 at 06:43 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

No CVSS v4.0

Attack Vector Local

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required Low

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact None

Integrity Impact None

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

The EPSS score is 0.00176.

Key SSVC decision points have not yet been added.

References

Link	Providers
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19d2d36e193c3fb515c052a56bfc83d8ac7b6764
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d45d40b872aec0073d4cf08956a6c9b87c5e396
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/452ec5058ea4ed63adae8d6beeac9ee687fe8061
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a056db30de92945ff8ee6033096678bfbae878e3
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c642a530aaaeb9a3e356cedfe77955e7f983380e
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6c0b0c802d3c49b86cad665a7f3790dc55a0394
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e68ada66afcae0bc2a7c06b43c5a9a081d29e7b4
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8e9dff204e8d8553495893e1a44d2b5021648de
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081530-CVE-2026-72448-937a@gregkh/T
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72448
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72448

History

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Weaknesses	CWE-401

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Weaknesses		CWE-772
References		https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081530-CVE-2026-72448-937a@gregkh/T https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72448 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72448
Metrics	threat_severity `None`	cvssV3_1 `{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}` threat_severity `Moderate`

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Weaknesses		CWE-401

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Description		In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeontx2-pf: Fix leak of SQ timestamp buffer on teardown The send-queue timestamp ring is allocated with qmem_alloc() when timestamping is used, but otx2_free_sq_res() never freed sq->timestamps, leaking that memory across ifdown and device removal. Add the missing qmem_free() alongside the other SQ companion buffers.
Title		octeontx2-pf: Fix leak of SQ timestamp buffer on teardown
First Time appeared		Linux Linux linux Kernel
CPEs		cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
Vendors & Products		Linux Linux linux Kernel
References		https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19d2d36e193c3fb515c052a56bfc83d8ac7b6764 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d45d40b872aec0073d4cf08956a6c9b87c5e396 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/452ec5058ea4ed63adae8d6beeac9ee687fe8061 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a056db30de92945ff8ee6033096678bfbae878e3 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c642a530aaaeb9a3e356cedfe77955e7f983380e https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6c0b0c802d3c49b86cad665a7f3790dc55a0394 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e68ada66afcae0bc2a7c06b43c5a9a081d29e7b4 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8e9dff204e8d8553495893e1a44d2b5021648de

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel

MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published: 2026-08-15T05:56:57.701Z

Updated: 2026-08-17T05:14:50.660Z

Reserved: 2026-08-09T03:40:39.931Z

Link: CVE-2026-72448

Vulnrichment

No data.

NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-15T06:22:18.723

Modified: 2026-08-17T06:19:12.280

Link: CVE-2026-72448

Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-08-15T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-72448 - Bugzilla

OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-22T06:45:04Z

Weaknesses

CWE-772
Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime

Impact

Affected Systems

Risk and Exploitability

Tracking

Attack Vector Local

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required Low

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact None

Integrity Impact None

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

Subscriptions

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