Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 Representor Vnic Reporter net/devlink/core.c devl_assert_locked race condition

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.
7.3	$0-$5k	0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. This issue affects the function devl_assert_locked of the file net/devlink/core.c of the component Representor Vnic Reporter. Such manipulation leads to race condition. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-97962. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function devl_assert_locked of the file net/devlink/core.c of the component Representor Vnic Reporter. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Move representor vnic reporter to eswitch devlink port The representor vnic devlink health reporter is created and destroyed along the representor netdev (un)load path, which is not serialized by the devlink instance lock. Destroying the reporter from there triggers a devl_assert_locked() splat on driver unbind: WARNING: net/devlink/core.c:259 at devl_assert_locked+0x54/0x70, CPU#2: bash/3758 Modules linked in: mlx5_vdpa vringh vdpa mlx5_ib mlx5_fwctl mlx5_core ... CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 3758 Comm: bash Tainted: G W 6.19.0+ #1 PREEMPT Tainted: [W]=WARN Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), ... RIP: 0010:devl_assert_locked+0x54/0x70 Call Trace: <TASK> devl_health_reporter_destroy+0x3a/0x1b0 mlx5e_vport_rep_unload+0x12d/0x2b0 [mlx5_core] mlx5_eswitch_unregister_vport_reps+0x1b8/0x220 [mlx5_core] ? __esw_offloads_unload_rep+0x190/0x190 [mlx5_core] ? kernfs_remove_by_name_ns+0xc3/0xf0 device_release_driver_internal+0x3b2/0x560 unbind_store+0xce/0xf0 Move the reporter's lifecycle to the eswitch devlink port (un)register paths, which are already serialized by the devlink instance lock, and store the handle on mlx5_devlink_port. Use the port's mlx5_vport as the reporter priv since the diagnose callback only needs a device handle and a vport number, and mlx5_vport carries both and is initialized before any representor driver probes.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-97962 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 09/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch dcaba72c85c14fe7393a59d61695941e6ccbd7d7/d1fcff9b39bac188ef62a77ebd176484be928ec2/7f26a5e8040b4957ef4dbdfcde6cc7ba2db53937 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.3

VulDB Base Score: 7.6
VulDB Temp Score: 7.3
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3
Patch: dcaba72c85c14fe7393a59d61695941e6ccbd7d7/d1fcff9b39bac188ef62a77ebd176484be928ec2/7f26a5e8040b4957ef4dbdfcde6cc7ba2db53937

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 Advisory disclosed
09/25/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-97962 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-97962
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410216

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 15:45
Changes: 09/25/2026 15:45 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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