From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: AL-KERNEL To: kernel-cve@kernelcve.org Subject: [CVE-2026-72023][LOW] octeontx2-pf: fix SQB pointer leak on init failure [ Upstream Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2026 05:52:59 -0400 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-AL-KERNEL-CVE: CVE-2026-72023 X-AL-KERNEL-Priority: LOW X-AL-KERNEL-Severity: LOW X-AL-KERNEL-Base-Severity: LOW X-AL-KERNEL-KPANIC: NO X-AL-KERNEL-ActionableScore: 1 X-AL-KERNEL-ActionableScore-Lower: 0 X-AL-KERNEL-Commit: 148d7ec0a3a98839c320e6cdd112e2e88bfb091b List-Id: CVE: CVE-2026-72023 Priority: LOW AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW KPANIC flag: NO Patch: octeontx2-pf: fix SQB pointer leak on init failure [ Upstream Commit: 148d7ec0a3a98839c320e6cdd112e2e88bfb091b Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=148d7ec0a3a98839c320e6cdd112e2e88bfb091b Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-72023 Analysis date: Sun, 16 Aug 2026 05:52:59 -0400 ActionableScore: 1 ActionableScore lower bound: 0 Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate / Low-like Manual review required: NO Summary: A memory leak in the OcteonTX2 PF initialization unwind path can leave per-SQ sqb_ptrs arrays allocated after partial SQ setup failure, potentially causing resource exhaustion only after repeated local or device-management triggered failures. ====================================================================== ABOUT THIS REPORT ====================================================================== The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-72023 is available here: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-72023 The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue. This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a separate ActionableScore mechanism. The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful security impact. Published priority for this report: LOW Manual review required: NO A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included at the end of this message. ====================================================================== AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT ====================================================================== CVE-2026-72023 LOW CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN MODERATE Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';*CWE-401;*CWE-772;**CWE-400;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '4.7';DESCR 'An SQB pointer array memory leak in the OcteonTX2 PF driver can occur when otx2_init_hw_resources() fails after SQ aura and pool resources have been initialized but before later queue setup completes. The unwind path freed SQB pages but left per SQ sqb_ptrs arrays allocated, so repeated failed initialization or recovery attempts can gradually consume kernel memory. For the CVSS the PR:L is used for the paranoid score because reliable triggering would normally require local ability to force driver probe reset or recovery operations, but this may be delegated to a service account or reduced capability root in some deployments. The issue is not network reachable as packet traffic alone does not trigger the failing init unwind path. Impact is denial of service through resource exhaustion only, with no evidence of UAF, OOB access, information disclosure, or privilege escalation.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate / Low-like (with actual score 1) YES REMOTE INIT SIMPLEFIX LEAK NETWORK HARDWARE TEST DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS_AND_CIANNH DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3 YES NO checked ====================================================================== ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS ====================================================================== ActionableScore=1 ActionableScoreLower=0 ## 1. ActionableScore * Conservative score: 0 * Paranoid score: 1 * Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate / Low-like**:: ## 2. Signal breakdown Conservative signals: * Availability impact realistic: +1. Repeated failed initialization could leak kernel memory and eventually contribute to resource exhaustion. * Requires admin/root/CAP in typical deployments: -2. Reliable triggering normally requires driver probe, reset, reprobe, or recovery control. * Physical-only or rare hardware-only condition: -2. The issue is specific to OcteonTX2 PF hardware and its AF mailbox setup. * Hard or unreliable trigger condition: -1. The leak occurs only on a specific initialization failure path after SQ resources are partially initialized. Conservative total is floored to 0. Paranoid signals: * Firmware-mediated or device-mediated influence: +1. The failure path may depend on device or AF mailbox behavior, although this is not remotely attacker-controlled by ordinary network traffic. * Local delegated trigger possibility: +1. In some deployments, a service account, reduced-capability root, or device-management role may be able to force reset or reprobe without being full host root. * Availability impact realistic: +1. Sustained repeated failures could accumulate leaked sqb_ptrs allocations. * Hard or unreliable trigger condition: -1. The attacker must repeatedly hit a narrow init-failure unwind path. * Rare hardware-specific exposure: -1. Exposure is limited to systems with the affected Marvell OcteonTX2 PF driver and hardware. Paranoid total: 1. Call-site confidence: high. The patch shows both the cleanup helper and the error unwind path that previously freed only SQB pages while leaving sqb_ptrs allocated. ## 3. Reachability analysis The bug is triggered during OcteonTX2 PF hardware resource initialization failure, not by ordinary packet processing. In typical deployments, an attacker would need local administrative or device-management capability to force driver load, reset, reprobe, or recovery attempts. Namespaces or containers do not normally make this path reachable unless device management is explicitly delegated. The path is not network reachable, and packet traffic alone does not appear sufficient to trigger the leaking unwind path. ## 4. Severity interpretation This behaves like a low-priority resource leak rather than an Important-class vulnerability. There is no UAF, double free, OOB access, arbitrary write, stale callback, type confusion, or privilege escalation primitive supported by the patch. The realistic impact is gradual memory exhaustion under repeated privileged or device-mediated init failures. The paranoid interpretation keeps it above zero only because delegated device-management workflows could make repeated triggering less than full host-root in some environments. ## 5. One-sentence report phrase A memory leak in the OcteonTX2 PF initialization unwind path can leave per-SQ sqb_ptrs arrays allocated after partial SQ setup failure, potentially causing resource exhaustion only after repeated local or device-management triggered failures. ## 6. Manual review recommendation NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED This is a hardware-specific error-path memory leak with no evidence of memory corruption, security-boundary bypass, information disclosure, or privilege escalation. It can be handled as an ordinary deferred Moderate or Low-like issue unless the affected fleet has OcteonTX2 PF hardware with untrusted actors able to repeatedly trigger PF reset or reprobe paths. ====================================================================== UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY ====================================================================== Patch: octeontx2-pf: fix SQB pointer leak on init failure [ Upstream Commit: 148d7ec0a3a98839c320e6cdd112e2e88bfb091b Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=148d7ec0a3a98839c320e6cdd112e2e88bfb091b Changed files: drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_pf.c Diff excerpt: Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch. Full patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=148d7ec0a3a98839c320e6cdd112e2e88bfb091b ====================================================================== DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY ====================================================================== The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-72023 can be found here: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-72023 The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information. The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure. This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore. Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability information often permits more than one defensible interpretation: Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.7 The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation. The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated real-world impact. CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment, because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration, hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental conditions can differ significantly between systems. A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites, subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or privilege-escalation impact. Conservative ActionableScore: 0 Paranoid ActionableScore: 1 The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7. For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following additional presentation split: ActionableScore below 5 -> MODERATE REGULAR ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0 The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases, MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update. There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0 even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage). KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification workflow. AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: LOW KPANIC detected for this report: NO Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition. For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/ (and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report for non-existant CVE-id yet). Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases, please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses info to this particular CVE. And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar). My contact email for such notifications is alexanjelausa@gmail.com (and both send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).