# CVE-2026-23258: net: liquidio: Initialize netdev pointer before queue setup

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-03-18 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.18

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: liquidio: Initialize netdev pointer before queue setup In setup_nic_devices(), the netdev is allocated using alloc_etherdev_mq(). However, the pointer to this structure is stored in oct->props[i].netdev only after the calls to netif_set_real_num_rx_queues() and netif_set_real_num_tx_queues(). If either of these functions fails, setup_nic_devices() returns an error without freeing the allocated netdev. Since oct->props[i].netdev is still NULL at this point, the cleanup function liquidio_destroy_nic_device() will fail to find and free the netdev, resulting in a memory leak. Fix this by initializing oct->props[i].netdev before calling the queue setup functions. This ensures that the netdev is properly accessible for cleanup in case of errors. Compile tested only. Issue found using a prototype static analysis tool and code review.

## 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.
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## 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/be109646cdaecab262f6276303b1763468c94378
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c81a8515fb8c8fb5d0dbc21f48337494bf1d60df
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a0e57c0b68c9e6f9a8fd7c1167861a5a730eb2f4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c0ed6c77ec34050971fd0df2a94dfdea66d09331
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d4590fde856cb94bd9a46e795c29d8288c238fc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d028147ae06407cb355245db1774793600670169
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/926ede0c85e1e57c97d64d9612455267d597bb2c

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