CVE-2026-89975

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvme-fabrics: fix DHCHAP secret leak on parse failure nvmf_parse_options() duplicates dhchap_secret and dhchap_ctrl_secret with match_strdup() before validating the DHHC-1: representation. If validation fails, the parser returns -EINVAL before the temporary string in p is assigned to opts->dhchap_secret or opts->dhchap_ctrl_secret. nvmf_create_ctrl() subsequently frees opts, but nvmf_free_options() cannot release the unassigned temporary string. Each rejected option therefore leaks one allocation. This is easy to miss because valid secrets transfer ownership to opts and are freed normally, while the malformed-secret path still returns the expected -EINVAL to userspace. With CONFIG_NVME_HOST_AUTH enabled, the leak is reachable before the required-option checks and transport lookup. No NVMe-oF target or working transport connection is required; for example, repeatedly writing dhchap_secret=BAD or dhchap_ctrl_secret=BAD to /dev/nvme-fabrics deterministically takes the leaking parse path. Free the temporary string before leaving both validation error paths. Use kfree_sensitive() because the copied option may contain secret material even when its representation is rejected, matching the sensitive cleanup used for stored DHCHAP secrets.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-09-16
Last modified 2026-09-16
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.0 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.110, 6.18.51, 7.2.5, 7.3-rc2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 6.0
Fixed in
✓ 6.12.110 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.51 6.18.x ✓ 7.2.5 7.2.x ✓ 7.3-rc2

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-89975?

    CVE-2026-89975 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.0 onward and has been patched in 6.12.110, 6.18.51, 7.2.5 and others. CVE-2026-89975 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-89975?

    Yes. CVE-2026-89975 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.110, 6.18.51, 7.2.5 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 6.0 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-89975 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2026-89975 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.