net: ethtool: phy: avoid NULL deref when PHY driver is unbound

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-64228
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerLinux
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-24 16:16:51 UTC
Updated2026-08-13 12:00:31 UTC
DescriptionIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ethtool: phy: avoid NULL deref when PHY driver is unbound phydev->drv can become NULL while the phy_device is still attached to its net_device, namely after the PHY driver is unbound via sysfs: echo <mdio_id> > /sys/bus/mdio_bus/drivers/<phy_drv>/unbind phy_remove() clears phydev->drv but doesn't call phy_detach(), so the phy_device stays in the link topology xarray and ethnl_req_get_phydev() still hands it back. ETHTOOL_MSG_PHY_GET then oopses on: rep_data->drvname = kstrdup(phydev->drv->name, GFP_KERNEL); drvname is already treated as optional by phy_reply_size(), phy_fill_reply() and phy_cleanup_data(), so just skip the allocation when there is no driver bound.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS: 0.001660000 probability, percentile 0.062310000 (date 2026-08-03)

Problem Types: CWE-476

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Linux Linux Kernel All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Linux Linux affected 9dd2ad5e92b962d1349a7541d167e8e214e49f95 3586924625559e6f9876d726c80ff0a75f0d5849 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 9dd2ad5e92b962d1349a7541d167e8e214e49f95 17fe2381f967d353183f374a1c0181a6d194158c git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 9dd2ad5e92b962d1349a7541d167e8e214e49f95 e3adf69f8eb121a9128c2b0029efd050d3649153 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 6.16 Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.16 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.18.34 6.18.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 7.0.11 7.0.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 7.1 * original_commit_for_fix Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
git.kernel.org/stable/c/17fe2381f967d353183f374a1c0181a6d194158c 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org Patch, Mitigation
git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3adf69f8eb121a9128c2b0029efd050d3649153 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/3586924625559e6f9876d726c80ff0a75f0d5849 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org Patch
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

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