---
id: CVE-2026-74623
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: atlantic: free stranded TX buffers on ring deinit

  aq_vec_deinit() drains the TX rings with a single aq_ring_tx_clean()
  call, which frees at most AQ_CFG_TX_CLEAN_B…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: atlantic: free stranded TX buffers on ring deinit

  aq_vec_deinit() drains the TX rings with a single aq_ring_tx_clean()
  call, which frees at most AQ_CFG_TX_CLEAN_B…
severity: none
published: '2026-08-22'
updated: '2026-10-14'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-14T13:10:00.187'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74623'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/307d80193b4a4a75b8dc4e0d3162be3755abbed7'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3447641d361dcc5511841d986ad4d849b2900d9b'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/452636ea5410a96e02ebaaf80b21e3620b98e0dd'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f1c20873f70b4b22ef86dc38dad1fda8e169bcd'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a3e1481f4ee6c581bccc6bfc6c970aac5be7b0c'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a14ceebd13bf857bfca052bc5a6bd49e737912be'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b13202d401e1a20fec89b0cda733dcbaf279f79d'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd633280de7fdfd60dc4fcf63d04e2ad95b43269'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00177
epssPercentile: 0.06727
ingestedAt: '2026-10-14T13:30:58.519Z'
---

## Overview

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

net: atlantic: free stranded TX buffers on ring deinit

aq_vec_deinit() drains the TX rings with a single aq_ring_tx_clean()
call, which frees at most AQ_CFG_TX_CLEAN_BUDGET (256) descriptors and
stops at hw_head, which no longer moves once aq_vec_stop() has stopped
the hardware and NAPI. Completed descriptors beyond the budget and
everything still posted in [hw_head, sw_tail) keep their skb or
xdp_frame when the interface goes down: aq_vec_ring_free() then frees
the buffer ring and the references are lost for good.

Today this is a silent memory leak on every interface down under
TX/XDP_TX load. With the conversion of the RX path to page_pool posted
for net-next it becomes much more visible: XDP_TX frames carry fragment
references on the RX ring's page_pool, so a single stranded frame keeps
the pool's inflight count above zero forever. page_pool_destroy() then
never completes, the pool is leaked together with its pages, and
"page_pool_release_retry() stalled pool shutdown" is warned every 60
seconds from that point on, on every ifdown, XDP detach or ring resize
under XDP_TX load.

Bring back aq_ring_tx_deinit() as it was before the removal and use it
for teardown again, with one extension: TX rings can hold xdp_frames
nowadays, so release those too. They are returned with
xdp_return_frame() since this runs in process context.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.