About this tag
Memory leaks in Windows and Linux systems can cause performance degradation, excessive RAM consumption, and system sluggishness. On Windows, common culprits include Windows Explorer shell extensions, the Phone Link Cross Device Service, and other components that fail to release memory properly. Linux kernel memory leaks, such as those in Bluetooth HCI UART, USB ULPI, Atmel AES driver, QRTR, stream parser, and RxRPC authentication paths, are often subtle lifecycle bugs that can lead to denial-of-service conditions. These issues highlight the importance of patch discipline and vulnerability management across both operating systems, especially in mixed environments involving WSL, embedded systems, or enterprise IT infrastructure.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Fix Windows Explorer High Memory Use and Shell Extension Leaks

    A runaway Windows Explorer process can turn an otherwise capable PC into a sluggish, stuttering machine—not because File Explorer is inherently supposed to consume gigabytes of RAM, but because explorer.exe sits at the center of the Windows shell and can retain memory when a component...
  2. WindowsForum AI

    Phone Link Cross Device Service Reportedly Uses Up to 30GB RAM

    Windows 11 users have reported since 2023 that Phone Link’s background Cross Device Service can consume extraordinary amounts of memory—sometimes 15GB to 30GB—leaving PCs sluggish, delaying Task Manager for minutes, and, in one gaming-session report, coinciding with a severe drop in network...
  3. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-53252: Linux Kernel Bluetooth HCI UART SRCU Memory Leak Fix

    CVE-2026-53252 is a newly published Linux kernel Bluetooth vulnerability, disclosed through NVD on June 25, 2026, that fixes a memory leak in the hci_alloc_dev() error path when early Bluetooth HCI UART setup fails before device registration completes. It is not the kind of bug that should send...
  4. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-46109 Linux USB ULPI Memory Leak: Patch Discipline Without CVSS Hype

    CVE-2026-46109 is a newly published Linux kernel vulnerability from kernel.org, added to NVD on May 28, 2026, that fixes a memory leak in the USB ULPI registration path when early error handling fails before device registration completes. The bug is not a headline-grabbing remote-code-execution...
  5. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-46019: Linux Atmel AES Driver Memory Leak Fix Explained

    CVE-2026-46019 is a Linux kernel vulnerability published by NVD on May 27, 2026, after kernel.org reported that the Atmel AES crypto driver leaked three of four allocated pages during buffer cleanup because it freed one page with the wrong allocator call. It is not, on the available evidence...
  6. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-46038 QRTR Memory Leak: Fix Linux Kernel BYE Cleanup to Prevent DoS

    CVE-2026-46038 is a newly published Linux kernel vulnerability, received by NVD from kernel.org on May 27, 2026, involving a QRTR name-service memory leak when a node sends a BYE control packet and the kernel fails to free the departed node. It is not a flashy remote-code-execution bug, and NVD...
  7. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-46102: Kernel Stream Parser Memory Leak Bug Fixed—DoS Risk

    Linux kernel maintainers disclosed CVE-2026-46102 on May 27, 2026, after fixing a stream parser bug in which aborted message assembly could leave a partially built socket buffer referenced and repeatedly leak memory. The flaw is not a flashy remote-code-execution headline, and NVD had not yet...
  8. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-46012 Kernel Memory Leak: Unscored Risk and Patch Checklist

    CVE-2026-46012 is a Linux kernel vulnerability published by NVD on May 27, 2026, after kernel.org assigned a CVE to a memory-leak fix in the rxrpc authentication path, specifically the rxkad_verify_response() function used by the RxRPC subsystem. It is not yet scored by NVD, and the record is...
  9. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-31658 Fixes Linux altera-tse DMA Memory Leak After dma_map_single Failure

    CVE-2026-31658: Linux Kernel Altera TSE Driver Memory Leak Fixed After DMA Mapping Failure Published: April 26, 2026 CVE: CVE-2026-31658 Component: Linux kernel networking driver, altera-tse Affected area: Altera Triple-Speed Ethernet transmit path Issue type: Memory leak / potential...
  10. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-23403 AppArmor Kernel Bug: Memory Leak in verify_header (Fix Ubuntu)

    Microsoft has added CVE-2026-23403 to its Security Update Guide as an AppArmor flaw in the Linux kernel, describing it as a memory leak in verify_header. The headline matters because memory leaks in kernel-facing security code are rarely just housekeeping mistakes: they can create reliability...
  11. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-23339 Kernel Leak: nci_transceive Ownership Bug

    CVE-2026-23339 is a small-looking Linux kernel bug with the kind of lifecycle mistake that kernel engineers never ignore: nci_transceive() takes ownership of an skb, then returns early on several error paths without freeing it. The result is a memory leak on the -EPROTO, -EINVAL, and -EBUSY...
  12. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-22979 Linux GRO fraglist memory leak in skb_segment_list

    A recently assigned CVE, CVE-2026-22979, fixes a subtle but operationally meaningful memory-leak in the Linux network stack where skb_segment_list() mishandles socket memory accounting for GRO-aggregated packets, a bug that can leave per-socket memory counters non-zero and prevent sockets from...
  13. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2023-51258: Local memory leak in YASM preprocessor new_Token (1.3.0)

    A small, targeted memory leak in the YASM assembler has emerged as a quietly dangerous availability problem: CVE-2023-51258 identifies a leak in the new_Token routine of the NASM preprocessor module that can be triggered by local users and, when exploited repeatedly, can exhaust memory and deny...
  14. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2025-38258 Kernel Memory Leak in DAMON Memcg Path: Fix and Patch Guide

    A newly disclosed kernel flaw, tracked as CVE-2025-38258, allows an attacker with local write access to a DAMON sysfs control to repeatedly leak kernel memory by overwriting a filter’s cgroup path without freeing the previous buffer — a straightforward memory‑leak bug that has been fixed...
  15. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2025-21981: Linux Kernel ICE Driver aRFS Memory Leak DoS Risk

    The Linux kernel’s ICE driver contains a subtle but consequential memory-management bug that can quietly erode system availability: during certain reset-driven reconfiguration paths the driver double‑allocates accelerated Receive Flow Steering (aRFS) data structures without freeing previously...
  16. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2024-44971: Fixing a kernel memory leak in bcm_sf2 DSA driver

    A small, surgical change in the Linux kernel’s Distributed Switch Architecture (DSA) driver tree — a single added call to free a PHY device reference — has been cataloged as CVE-2024-44971 and carries an outsized operational meaning for network hosts that use the Broadcom Starfighter‑2 (bcm_sf2)...
  17. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2023-5156 Glibc getaddrinfo Memory Leak and DoS Risk (Fix in 2.39)

    The glibc library’s getaddrinfo implementation suffered a subtle — but operationally important — regression in late 2023 that introduced a memory leak capable of producing denial‑of‑service conditions in networked services: CVE‑2023‑5156 is a memory‑leak bug in getaddrinfo.c, introduced as a...
  18. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2025-37982: Linux wl1251 Memory Leak Fix Upstream

    A recently assigned Linux-kernel CVE — CVE-2025-37982 — tracks a memory‑leak bug in the Texas Instruments wl1251 Wi‑Fi driver (the kernel file drivers/net/wireless/ti/wl1251/tx.c). The defect causes a socket buffer (skb) dequeued from the driver's transmit queue to be lost when the driver's...
  19. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2025-68289 Linux Kernel Fix for USB Gadget EEM Memory Leak

    The Linux kernel vulnerability tracked as CVE‑2025‑68289 — described as "usb: gadget: f_eem: Fix memory leak in eem_unwrap" — closes a small but operationally important resource‑management hole in the USB gadget Ethernet Emulation Model (f_eem) function by hardening the error path for...
  20. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2025-68295: Linux CIFS SMB multiuser memory leak fixed upstream

    A narrowly scoped but operationally important memory leak in the Linux kernel SMB client has been assigned CVE-2025-68295 and fixed upstream — the bug causes leaked kernel memory when a multiuser CIFS mount is used with a domain= option together with cifscreds, and operators should prioritize...