CVE-2026-43225
Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete
Memory Leak in Linux Kernel RTL8723BS Driver

Publication date: 2026-05-06

Last updated on: 2026-05-08

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: rtl8723bs: fix memory leak on failure path cfg80211_inform_bss_frame() may return NULL on failure. In that case, the allocated buffer 'buf' is not freed and the function returns early, leading to potential memory leak. Fix this by ensuring that 'buf' is freed on both success and failure paths.
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Meta Information
Published
2026-05-06
Last Modified
2026-05-08
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-05-06
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-14
NVD
CVE-2026-43225
EUVD
EUVD-2026-27784
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 6 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel From 6.2 (inc) to 6.6.128 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.7 (inc) to 6.12.75 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.13 (inc) to 6.18.16 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.19 (inc) to 6.19.6 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.165 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 4.12 (inc) to 5.15.202 (exc)
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Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-401 The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's staging driver rtl8723bs. The function cfg80211_inform_bss_frame() may return NULL on failure, but in that case, the allocated buffer 'buf' is not freed before the function returns early. This leads to a potential memory leak because the allocated memory is not properly released.

The issue was fixed by ensuring that the buffer 'buf' is freed on both success and failure paths, preventing the memory leak.

Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can lead to a memory leak in the Linux kernel when the rtl8723bs driver encounters a failure in the cfg80211_inform_bss_frame() function. Over time, this memory leak could cause increased memory usage, potentially degrading system performance or causing instability.

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