Linux Kernel up to 6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5 mlx5e_destroy_netdev null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this issue is the function mlx5e_destroy_netdev. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-23035. There is no available exploit. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5. It has been classified as critical. Affected is the function mlx5e_destroy_netdev. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as 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. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Pass netdev to mlx5e_destroy_netdev instead of priv mlx5e_priv is an unstable structure that can be memset(0) if profile attaching fails. Pass netdev to mlx5e_destroy_netdev() to guarantee it will work on a valid netdev. On mlx5e_remove: Check validity of priv->profile, before attempting to cleanup any resources that might be not there. This fixes a kernel oops in mlx5e_remove when switchdev mode fails due to change profile failure. $ devlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:00:03.0 mode switchdev Error: mlx5_core: Failed setting eswitch to offloads. dmesg: 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 $ devlink dev reload pci/0000:00:03.0 ==> oops BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000370 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 15 UID: 0 PID: 520 Comm: devlink Not tainted 6.18.0-rc5+ #115 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:mlx5e_dcbnl_dscp_app+0x23/0x100 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000083f8b8 EFLAGS: 00010286 RAX: ffff8881126fc380 RBX: ffff8881015ac400 RCX: ffffffff826ffc45 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffff8881035109c0 RBP: ffff8881035109c0 R08: ffff888101e3e838 R09: ffff888100264e10 R10: ffffc9000083f898 R11: ffffc9000083f8a0 R12: ffff888101b921a0 R13: ffff888101b921a0 R14: ffff8881015ac9a0 R15: ffff8881015ac400 FS: 00007f789a3c8740(0000) GS:ffff88856aa59000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000370 CR3: 000000010b6c0001 CR4: 0000000000370ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> mlx5e_remove+0x57/0x110 device_release_driver_internal+0x19c/0x200 bus_remove_device+0xc6/0x130 device_del+0x160/0x3d0 ? devl_param_driverinit_value_get+0x2d/0x90 mlx5_detach_device+0x89/0xe0 mlx5_unload_one_devl_locked+0x3a/0x70 mlx5_devlink_reload_down+0xc8/0x220 devlink_reload+0x7d/0x260 devlink_nl_reload_doit+0x45b/0x5a0 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xe8/0x140

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-23035 since 01/13/2026. The exploitability is told to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 297458 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23035), 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 a7625bacaa8c8c2bfcde6dd6d1397bd63ad82b02/66a25f6b7c0bfd84e6d27b536f5d24116dbd52da/4ef8512e1427111f7ba92b4a847d181ff0aeec42 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 (297458), EUVD (EUVD-2026-5059) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0280). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.19-rc1
• 6.19-rc2
• 6.19-rc3
• 6.19-rc4
• 6.19-rc5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

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