CVE-2026-90079

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeontx2-af: fix cn20k mailbox lifetime on repeated rvu_mbox_init() rvu_mbox_init() is called separately for AF-PF mailboxes during probe and for AF-VF mailboxes when SR-IOV is enabled. Each call used to allocate a new ng_rvu object, leaking the first allocation when the pointer was overwritten on the second call. Sharing one ng_rvu across both paths exposed several teardown bugs: the error path freed all cn20k mailbox DMA and kfree()d ng_rvu even when only the failing init type should be unwound, leaving live AF-PF mailbox memory in use after an AF-VF init failure. mutex_init() was also re-run on the AF-VF path while AF-PF mailbox handlers could still hold rvu->mbox_lock. Probe and SR-IOV failure paths did not release cn20k mailbox DMA either, since cleanup only happened in rvu_remove(). Allocate ng_rvu once with devm_kzalloc(), initialize mbox_lock in the same block, unwind only the mailbox memory for the failing init type, and free cn20k mailbox DMA from the probe and pci_enable_sriov() error paths.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-09-17
Last modified 2026-09-17
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.17 and later are affected. Fixed in 7.2.6, 7.3-rc1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 6.17
Fixed in
✓ 7.2.6 7.2.x ✓ 7.3-rc1

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-90079?

    CVE-2026-90079 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.17 onward and has been patched in 7.2.6 and 7.3-rc1. CVE-2026-90079 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-90079?

    Yes. CVE-2026-90079 has been patched. Fixed versions include 7.2.6 and 7.3-rc1. If you are running Linux kernel 6.17 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-90079 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2026-90079 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.