nvme-fabrics: fix DHCHAP secret leak on parse failure
nvmf_parse_options() duplicates dhchap_secret and dhchap_ctrl_secret
with match_strdup() before validating the DHHC-1: representation.
If validation fails, the parser returns -EINVAL before the temporary
string in p is assigned to opts->dhchap_secret or
opts->dhchap_ctrl_secret. nvmf_create_ctrl() subsequently frees opts,
but nvmf_free_options() cannot release the unassigned temporary string.
Each rejected option therefore leaks one allocation.
This is easy to miss because valid secrets transfer ownership to opts
and are freed normally, while the malformed-secret path still returns
the expected -EINVAL to userspace.
With CONFIG_NVME_HOST_AUTH enabled, the leak is reachable before the
required-option checks and transport lookup. No NVMe-oF target or
working transport connection is required; for example, repeatedly
writing
dhchap_secret=BAD
or
dhchap_ctrl_secret=BAD
to /dev/nvme-fabrics deterministically takes the leaking parse path.
Free the temporary string before leaving both validation error paths.
Use kfree_sensitive() because the copied option may contain secret
material even when its representation is rejected, matching the
sensitive cleanup used for stored DHCHAP secrets.
Analysis
Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
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No data available yet.
No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.
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Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvme-fabrics: fix DHCHAP secret leak on parse failure nvmf_parse_options() duplicates dhchap_secret and dhchap_ctrl_secret with match_strdup() before validating the DHHC-1: representation. If validation fails, the parser returns -EINVAL before the temporary string in p is assigned to opts->dhchap_secret or opts->dhchap_ctrl_secret. nvmf_create_ctrl() subsequently frees opts, but nvmf_free_options() cannot release the unassigned temporary string. Each rejected option therefore leaks one allocation. This is easy to miss because valid secrets transfer ownership to opts and are freed normally, while the malformed-secret path still returns the expected -EINVAL to userspace. With CONFIG_NVME_HOST_AUTH enabled, the leak is reachable before the required-option checks and transport lookup. No NVMe-oF target or working transport connection is required; for example, repeatedly writing dhchap_secret=BAD or dhchap_ctrl_secret=BAD to /dev/nvme-fabrics deterministically takes the leaking parse path. Free the temporary string before leaving both validation error paths. Use kfree_sensitive() because the copied option may contain secret material even when its representation is rejected, matching the sensitive cleanup used for stored DHCHAP secrets. | |
| Title | nvme-fabrics: fix DHCHAP secret leak on parse failure | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-09-16T10:32:53.836Z
Reserved: 2026-09-11T19:38:34.779Z
Link: CVE-2026-89975
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-09-16T11:17:08.337
Modified: 2026-09-16T11:17:08.337
Link: CVE-2026-89975
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
No weakness.