CVE-2026-23261 | nvme-fc: release admin tagset if init fails

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvme-fc: release admin tagset if init fails nvme_fabrics creates an NVMe/FC controller in following path: nvmf_dev_write() -> nvmf_create_ctrl() -> nvme_fc_create_ctrl() -> nvme_fc_init_ctrl() nvme_fc_init_ctrl() allocates the admin blk-mq resources right after nvme_add_ctrl() succeeds. If any of the subsequent steps fail (changing the controller state, scheduling connect work, etc.), we jump to the fail_ctrl path, which tears down the controller references but never frees the admin queue/tag set. The leaked blk-mq allocations match the kmemleak report seen during blktests nvme/fc. Check ctrl->ctrl.admin_tagset in the fail_ctrl path and call nvme_remove_admin_tag_set() when it is set so that all admin queue allocations are reclaimed whenever controller setup aborts.

Published: 2026-03-18 Last update: 2026-03-19 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-23261 is rated Low Risk (4.3/100): low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-23261

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-19 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-23261

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

No CVSS data in dataset for this CVE.

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-23261

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-23261

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-23261 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23261
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23261
suse low CVE-2026-23261 severity low: SUSE including 26 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 222 product×package rows across 40 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, … (40 product lines)): Known Not Affected 222. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23261/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-23261 medium priority: Ubuntu including 157 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1256 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 871, ignored 173, needed 124, released 83, pending 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23261

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-23261

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-23261

cvelogic Threat Intelligence