Linux Kernel up to 6.12.68/6.18.8 ice ice_vsi_set_napi_queues null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.68/6.18.8. This impacts the function ice_vsi_set_napi_queues of the component ice. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-23166. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.68/6.18.8 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function ice_vsi_set_napi_queues of the component ice. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to 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. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: Fix NULL pointer dereference in ice_vsi_set_napi_queues Add NULL pointer checks in ice_vsi_set_napi_queues() to prevent crashes during resume from suspend when rings[q_idx]->q_vector is NULL. Tested adaptor: 60:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller E810-XXV for SFP [8086:159b] (rev 02) Subsystem: Intel Corporation Ethernet Network Adapter E810-XXV-2 [8086:4003] SR-IOV state: both disabled and enabled can reproduce this issue. kernel version: v6.18 Reproduce steps: Boot up and execute suspend like systemctl suspend or rtcwake. Log: <1>[ 231.443607] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000040 <1>[ 231.444052] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode <1>[ 231.444484] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page <6>[ 231.444913] PGD 0 P4D 0 <4>[ 231.445342] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI <4>[ 231.446635] RIP: 0010:netif_queue_set_napi+0xa/0x170 <4>[ 231.447067] Code: 31 f6 31 ff c3 cc cc cc cc 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 85 c9 74 0b <48> 83 79 30 00 0f 84 39 01 00 00 55 41 89 d1 49 89 f8 89 f2 48 89 <4>[ 231.447513] RSP: 0018:ffffcc780fc078c0 EFLAGS: 00010202 <4>[ 231.447961] RAX: ffff8b848ca30400 RBX: ffff8b848caf2028 RCX: 0000000000000010 <4>[ 231.448443] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff8b848dbd4000 <4>[ 231.448896] RBP: ffffcc780fc078e8 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 <4>[ 231.449345] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000001 <4>[ 231.449817] R13: ffff8b848dbd4000 R14: ffff8b84833390c8 R15: 0000000000000000 <4>[ 231.450265] FS: 00007c7b29e9d740(0000) GS:ffff8b8c068e2000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 <4>[ 231.450715] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 <4>[ 231.451179] CR2: 0000000000000040 CR3: 000000030626f004 CR4: 0000000000f72ef0 <4>[ 231.451629] PKRU: 55555554 <4>[ 231.452076] Call Trace: <4>[ 231.452549] <TASK> <4>[ 231.452996] ? ice_vsi_set_napi_queues+0x4d/0x110 [ice] <4>[ 231.453482] ice_resume+0xfd/0x220 [ice] <4>[ 231.453977] ? __pfx_pci_pm_resume+0x10/0x10 <4>[ 231.454425] pci_pm_resume+0x8c/0x140 <4>[ 231.454872] ? __pfx_pci_pm_resume+0x10/0x10 <4>[ 231.455347] dpm_run_callback+0x5f/0x160 <4>[ 231.455796] ? dpm_wait_for_superior+0x107/0x170 <4>[ 231.456244] device_resume+0x177/0x270 <4>[ 231.456708] dpm_resume+0x209/0x2f0 <4>[ 231.457151] dpm_resume_end+0x15/0x30 <4>[ 231.457596] suspend_devices_and_enter+0x1da/0x2b0 <4>[ 231.458054] enter_state+0x10e/0x570 Add defensive checks for both the ring pointer and its q_vector before dereferencing, allowing the system to resume successfully even when q_vectors are unmapped.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-23166 since 01/13/2026. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 299215 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23166), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.69 or 6.18.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d75c7b7c3c2b8e3569043099e6bdcefc983856c5/36126ddbe924727add05a594dedf230d3b575e4d/9bb30be4d89ff9a8d7ab1aa0eb2edaca83431f85 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 (299215) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0421). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM

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
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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