---
id: CVE-2026-90077
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: fix a resource leak in copy_net_ns() error handling path

  Currently, preinit_net() does two things:

    (1) call ns_common_init() which might fail
    (2) initialize …
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: fix a resource leak in copy_net_ns() error handling path

  Currently, preinit_net() does two things:

    (1) call ns_common_init() which might fail
    (2) initialize …
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 08027f6b790be1e444e4182fb4dc53faa6539d16 <
    76c847e80d2b6be047707d58e8e05eedbe2593ad
  - >-
    Linux >= 08027f6b790be1e444e4182fb4dc53faa6539d16 <
    e69bde4eb566aea8fa97cbb93e0bab608964f1a5
  - >-
    Linux >= 08027f6b790be1e444e4182fb4dc53faa6539d16 <
    3220b62fbb8a55feebd2a826d5ead0f49f09ed5a
  - Linux 6.18
published: '2026-09-17'
updated: '2026-09-17'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-17T17:16:56.930'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90077'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3220b62fbb8a55feebd2a826d5ead0f49f09ed5a'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76c847e80d2b6be047707d58e8e05eedbe2593ad'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e69bde4eb566aea8fa97cbb93e0bab608964f1a5'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-17T16:21:47.896Z'
epss: 0.00206
epssPercentile: 0.09434
---

## Overview

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

net: fix a resource leak in copy_net_ns() error handling path

Currently, preinit_net() does two things:

  (1) call ns_common_init() which might fail
  (2) initialize resources which does not fail

However, preinit_net() is returning early when (1) fails, and copy_net_ns()
is jumping to the dec_ucounts: label. As a result, resources allocated by
net_alloc() are leaking. We need to call key_remove_domain() and
net_passive_dec() in order to release resources allocated by net_alloc().

We cannot simply jump to the put_userns: label when preinit_net() failed,
for (2) is not yet done. But we can reorder (1) and (2), for there is no
dependency between (1) and (2). Therefore, this patch decouples (1) from
preinit_net() and changes preinit_net() back to a void function, and calls
ns_common_init() after preinit_net() succeeded. Then, we can jump to
immediately after ns_common_free() of the put_userns: label.

## Remediation

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