capabilities: fix potential memleak on error path from vfs_getxattr_alloc()

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: capabilities: fix potential memleak on error path from vfs_getxattr_alloc() In cap_inode_getsecurity(), we will use vfs_getxattr_alloc() to complete the memory allocation of tmpbuf, if we have completed the memory allocation of tmpbuf, but failed to call handler->get(...), there will be a memleak in below logic: |-- ret = (int)vfs_getxattr_alloc(mnt_userns, ...) | /* ^^^ alloc for tmpbuf */ |-- value = krealloc(*xattr_value, error + 1, flags) | /* ^^^ alloc memory */ |-- error = handler->get(handler, ...) | /* error! */ |-- *xattr_value = value | /* xattr_value is &tmpbuf (memory leak!) */ So we will try to free(tmpbuf) after vfs_getxattr_alloc() fails to fix it. [PM: subject line and backtrace tweaks]

Timeline

1. May 1, 2025, 2:10 PM UTCCVE published
2. Oct 1, 2025, 4:08 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

3. May 11, 2026, 7:08 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• Linux Linux

  Version range not reported

• Linux Linux

  4.14

References 7