Linux Kernel up to 6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5 mlx5e_netdev_change_profile null pointer dereference

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5. This vulnerability affects the function mlx5e_netdev_change_profile. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-23000. There is no exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5. Affected by this vulnerability is the function mlx5e_netdev_change_profile. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Fix crash on profile change rollback failure mlx5e_netdev_change_profile can fail to attach a new profile and can fail to rollback to old profile, in such case, we could end up with a dangling netdev with a fully reset netdev_priv. A retry to change profile, e.g. another attempt to call mlx5e_netdev_change_profile via switchdev mode change, will crash trying to access the now NULL priv->mdev. This fix allows mlx5e_netdev_change_profile() to handle previous failures and an empty priv, by not assuming priv is valid. Pass netdev and mdev to all flows requiring mlx5e_netdev_change_profile() and avoid passing priv. In mlx5e_netdev_change_profile() check if current priv is valid, and if not, just attach the new profile without trying to access the old one. This fixes the following oops, when enabling switchdev mode for the 2nd time after first time failure: ## Enabling switchdev mode first time: mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1: E-Switch: Supported tc chains and prios offload workqueue: Failed to create a rescuer kthread for wq "mlx5e": -EINTR mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1: mlx5e_netdev_init_profile:6214:(pid 37199): mlx5e_priv_init failed, err=-12 mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1 gpu3rdma1: mlx5e_netdev_change_profile: new profile init failed, -12 workqueue: Failed to create a rescuer kthread for wq "mlx5e": -EINTR mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1: mlx5e_netdev_init_profile:6214:(pid 37199): mlx5e_priv_init failed, err=-12 mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1 gpu3rdma1: mlx5e_netdev_change_profile: failed to rollback to orig profile, -12 ^^^^^^^^ mlx5_core 0000:00:03.0: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0) ## retry: Enabling switchdev mode 2nd time: mlx5_core 0000:00:03.0: E-Switch: Supported tc chains and prios offload BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000038 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 13 UID: 0 PID: 520 Comm: devlink Not tainted 6.18.0-rc4+ #91 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:mlx5e_detach_netdev+0x3c/0x90 Code: 50 00 00 f0 80 4f 78 02 48 8b bf e8 07 00 00 48 85 ff 74 16 48 8b 73 78 48 d1 ee 83 e6 01 83 f6 01 40 0f b6 f6 e8 c4 42 00 00 <48> 8b 45 38 48 85 c0 74 08 48 89 df e8 cc 47 40 1e 48 8b bb f0 07 RSP: 0018:ffffc90000673890 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8881036a89c0 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: ffff888113f63800 RSI: ffffffff822fe720 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000002dcd R09: 0000000000000000 R10: ffffc900006738e8 R11: 00000000ffffffff R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff8881036a89c0 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007fdfb8384740(0000) GS:ffff88856a9d6000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000038 CR3: 0000000112ae0005 CR4: 0000000000370ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> mlx5e_netdev_change_profile+0x45/0xb0 mlx5e_vport_rep_load+0x27b/0x2d0 mlx5_esw_offloads_rep_load+0x72/0xf0 esw_offloads_enable+0x5d0/0x970 mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked+0x349/0x430 ? is_mp_supported+0x57/0xb0 mlx5_devlink_eswitch_mode_set+0x26b/0x430 devlink_nl_eswitch_set_doit+0x6f/0xf0 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xe8/0x140 genl_rcv_msg+0x18b/0x290 ? __pfx_devlink_nl_pre_doit+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_devlink_nl_eswitch_set_doit+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_devlink_nl_post_doit+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_genl_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10 netlink_rcv_skb+0x52/0x100 genl_rcv+0x28/0x40 netlink_unicast+0x282/0x3e0 ? __alloc_skb+0xd6/0x190 netlink_sendmsg+0x1f7/0x430 __sys_sendto+0x213/0x220 ? __sys_recvmsg+0x6a/0xd0 __x64_sys_sendto+0x24/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x50/0x1f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e RIP: 0033:0x7fdfb8495047

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-23000 since 01/13/2026. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 296528 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23000), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.67, 6.18.7 or 6.19-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch dad52950b409d6923880d65a4cddb383286e17d2/e05b8084a20f6bd5827d338c928e5e0fcbafa496/4dadc4077e3f77d6d31e199a925fc7a705e7adeb is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (296528), EUVD (EUVD-2026-4618) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0215). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • Oracle Linux
  • SUSE openSUSE
  • RESF Rocky Linux
  • Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 296528
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23000

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.67/6.18.7/6.19-rc6
Patch: dad52950b409d6923880d65a4cddb383286e17d2/e05b8084a20f6bd5827d338c928e5e0fcbafa496/4dadc4077e3f77d6d31e199a925fc7a705e7adeb

Timelineinfo

01/13/2026 CVE reserved
01/25/2026 +12 days Advisory disclosed
01/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
03/27/2026 +61 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-23000 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-23000
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-342829
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2026-0215 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 01/25/2026 16:01
Updated: 03/27/2026 18:10
Changes: 01/25/2026 16:01 (58), 01/25/2026 16:54 (1), 01/26/2026 02:23 (1), 01/26/2026 13:34 (2), 02/26/2026 11:28 (11), 03/27/2026 18:10 (7)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Do you want to use VulDB in your project?

Use the official API to access entries easily!