Memory leak in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-53261
Published: June 26, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU135483
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 4.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-53261
CWE-ID: CWE-401
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a memory leak in devlink_free() when freeing an unregistered devlink instance with a nested relation. A local user can trigger a probe failure after creating such a relation to cause a denial of service.
This can occur when a child devlink is linked to its parent before registration and the probe later fails.
Affected software
Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-53261
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-31.31, 7.0.0-31.31.1, 7.0.0-31.31~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1006.7, 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1012.12, 7.0.0-1012.12~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1013.13
linux (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-31.31, 7.0.0-31.31.1, 7.0.0-31.31~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1006.7, 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1012.12, 7.0.0-1012.12~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1013.13