Linux Kernel up to 7.2.12 hisi_femac hisi_femac_drv_probe netdev_ops null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.12. Affected is the function hisi_femac_drv_probe of the component hisi_femac. The manipulation of the argument netdev_ops results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-99200. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.12. Affected is the function hisi_femac_drv_probe of the component hisi_femac. The manipulation of the argument netdev_ops 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: hisilicon: hisi_femac: Move setting of netops to fix crash hisi_femac_drv_probe() connects the PHY before dev->netdev_ops is assigned. phy_attach_direct() -> phy_link_topo_add_phy() reads dev->netdev_ops through netdev_need_ops_lock() since the commit in question, so probing crashes with a NULL pointer dereference when CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is enabled. phy_link_topo_add_phy from phy_attach_direct+0xec/0x37c of_phy_get_and_connect from hisi_femac_drv_probe+0x1f4/0x558 Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x0000000b Assign netdev_ops before the PHY attach, as was done for emac in commit 7c9f391ec89c ("net: emac: move setting of netops to fix crash").

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-99200 since 09/25/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. 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 10/28/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.2.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 06ef5b084b150c538bc84148e5d710eee012413c/444889dfa27b54b39026e962464b1f8f9093e1ea is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.2.10
• 7.2.11
• 7.2.12

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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