---
id: CVE-2026-53181
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  vsock/vmci: fix sk_ack_backlog leak on failed handshake

  When vmci_transport_recv_connecting_server() returns an error,
  vmci_transport_recv_listen() calls vsock_remove_…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  vsock/vmci: fix sk_ack_backlog leak on failed handshake

  When vmci_transport_recv_connecting_server() returns an error,
  vmci_transport_recv_listen() calls vsock_remove_…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-401
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - 'linux_kernel >= 3.9, < 5.10.259'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.210'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.176'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.143'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.94'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.36'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.0.13'
  - linux_kernel = 7.1
patched:
  - linux_kernel 7.0.13
published: '2026-06-25'
updated: '2026-10-15'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-15T02:20:03.340'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53181'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22c587aa3ab1ab5264daff3ec32136fd30436c13'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9698582a4dd9c4a05889d7db96d4c0edc9e69cac'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba9ad6015937a5e46ba1a31370e3efdec8abbdcc'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bcb275626055df7f8f947f1a349754b4004d9a15'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c05fa14db43ebef3bd862ca9d073981c0358b3f0'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf7090e255d74c4b61c51f8ede9fcacdd8393b5b'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dfd853197615d322d3a88dbcab91fc0fd2096219'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea0b03d52881c12a8c634ea0d6cbfa61cefdb488'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00123
epssPercentile: 0.01833
ingestedAt: '2026-10-15T03:30:12.907Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

vsock/vmci: fix sk_ack_backlog leak on failed handshake

When vmci_transport_recv_connecting_server() returns an error,
vmci_transport_recv_listen() calls vsock_remove_pending() but never
calls sk_acceptq_removed(). This leaves sk_ack_backlog incremented
permanently.

Repeated handshake failures (malformed packets, queue pair alloc
failure, event subscribe failure) cause sk_ack_backlog to climb
toward sk_max_ack_backlog. Once it reaches the limit the listener
permanently refuses all new connections with -ECONNREFUSED, a
silent denial of service requiring a process restart to recover.

The two existing sk_acceptq_removed() calls in af_vsock.c do not
cover this path: line 764 checks vsock_is_pending() which returns
false after vsock_remove_pending(), and line 1889 is only reached
on successful accept().

Fix by balancing sk_acceptq_added() with sk_acceptq_removed() on
the error path.

## Affected

- `linux_kernel >= 3.9, < 5.10.259`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.210`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.176`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.143`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.94`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.36`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.0.13`
- `linux_kernel = 7.1`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 7.0.13`