diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-03-21-08-48-25.gh-issue-146245.cqM3_4.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-03-21-08-48-25.gh-issue-146245.cqM3_4.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..f52eaa0d6c7277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-03-21-08-48-25.gh-issue-146245.cqM3_4.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed reference leaks in :mod:`socket` when audit hooks raise exceptions in :func:`socket.getaddrinfo` and :meth:`!socket.sendto`.
diff --git a/Modules/socketmodule.c b/Modules/socketmodule.c
index 37d6209a21aefe..4ea2de9f408979 100644
--- a/Modules/socketmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/socketmodule.c
@@ -4582,6 +4582,7 @@ sock_sendto(PySocketSockObject *s, PyObject *args)
     }
 
     if (PySys_Audit("socket.sendto", "OO", s, addro) < 0) {
+        PyBuffer_Release(&pbuf);
         return NULL;
     }
 
@@ -6801,7 +6802,7 @@ socket_getaddrinfo(PyObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject* kwargs)
 
     if (PySys_Audit("socket.getaddrinfo", "OOiii",
                     hobj, pobj, family, socktype, protocol) < 0) {
-        return NULL;
+        goto err;
     }
 
     memset(&hints, 0, sizeof(hints));