CVE-2026-74717
HighCVSS 7.5Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk42th percentile - higher than 42% of all known CVEs
Summary
In the Linux kernel's mlx5 driver, a vulnerability exists where the firmware tracer creation function can return either NULL or ERR_PTR. The return value is stored without a check, and during core dump generation, an invalid pointer is dereferenced, causing a kernel panic.
Risk Assessment
An attacker or hardware failure can trigger the vulnerable code path, leading to a kernel panic, resulting in service unavailability and potential data loss. This can be exploited for a denial-of-service attack on systems with Mellanox/NVIDIA network cards.
Recommendation
Immediately update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that changes the tracer creation function to return only NULL. Monitor distribution security advisories and apply the appropriate patches.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
See all- CVE-2026-99215Unknown
In the Linux kernel power supply subsystem, a use-after-free vulnerability exists. If a power supply is unregistered while its external_power_changed() callback is still running, the driver may free data that the callback is still accessing, leading to a kernel crash (NULL pointer dereference).
- CVE-2026-99210Unknown
In the Linux kernel accel/rocket driver, rocket_probe() stores the return value of rocket_device_init() in the file-scoped rdev pointer before checking whether it is an error pointer. On failure rdev remains an ERR_PTR, and a later probe can skip initialization and dereference the error pointer when reading rdev->num_cores.
- CVE-2026-99209Unknown
In the Linux kernel drm/xe driver, xe_evict_flags() reads tbo->resource->mem_type, but a BO can reach eviction with no ttm.resource, e.g. an imported dma-buf whose resource was freed during teardown. This causes a NULL pointer dereference and a kernel fault.
- CVE-2026-99208Unknown
In the Linux kernel drm/xe/oa driver, ttm_bo_type_kernel BOs are not guaranteed to be zeroed on allocation and may contain data from previously freed pages. Since the OA buffer is mmap'able by userspace, this can expose stale kernel memory contents.
- CVE-2026-99207Unknown
In the Linux kernel's scsi: target subsystem, target_do_delayed_work() acquired delayed_cmd_lock with a plain spin_lock() without disabling interrupts, while all other acquisition sites use spin_lock_irqsave(). Since commands can now complete in interrupt context (complete_type=1 with direct_compl_supp), this can cause a deadlock when a completion arrives on the same CPU where the work item holds the lock.
- CVE-2026-99205Unknown
In the Linux kernel, a race exists in sched_change_end() with __sched_setscheduler() for queued but non-running tasks. When a task's scheduling class changes (e.g., from SCHED_OTHER to SCHED_RR), rq->next_class is not updated and the need-resched indicator is not set, causing the CPU to idle despite a runnable task being present.
- CVE-2026-99200Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the hisi_femac network driver (net: hisilicon) assigns netdev_ops only after connecting the PHY. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2026-99199Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the hip04_eth network driver (net: hisilicon) calls of_phy_connect() before ndev->netdev_ops is assigned. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2026-99198Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the owl_emac network driver (net: ethernet: actions) calls owl_emac_phy_init(), which connects the PHY, before netdev->netdev_ops is assigned. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2026-99197Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the mv643xx_eth network driver connects the PHY before dev->netdev_ops is assigned. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5: fw_tracer, return NULL on create error Tracer creation can fail by returning either NULL or ERR_PTR. The return value is stored without a check on the device, and users treat ERR_PTR and NULL the same way. This also causes a crash in the core dump logic, which is missing the ERR_PTR check and ends up dereferencing it, as shown in the trace below. Switch tracer creation to return NULL on failure only, so callers only need a single NULL check. Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000006 [#1] SMP Modules linked in: mlx5_ib ib_uverbs ib_core ipv6 mlx5_core CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 12 Comm: kworker/u16:0 Not tainted 6.19.7 #1 PREEMPT(none) Workqueue: mlx5_health0001:01:00.0 mlx5_fw_reporter_err_work [mlx5_core] pstate: a3400009 (NzCv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : mlx5_fw_tracer_trigger_core_dump_general+0x58/0xe0 [mlx5_core] lr : mlx5_fw_tracer_trigger_core_dump_general+0x40/0xe0 [mlx5_core] sp : ffff800081cf3c40 x29: ffff800081cf3c90 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: ffff000080018828 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: ffff000080304a05 x23: ffff800081cf3d80 x22: ffff0000847e01a0 x21: 0000000000000000 x20: ffff0000847e01a0 x19: ffffffffffffffa1 x18: ffff80008310bbf0 x17: ffff800080119650 x16: ffff80008010df54 x15: ffff80008010d4ac x14: ffff800079c202e4 x13: ffff80008002fe60 x12: ffff800080119650 x11: ffff80008010df54 x10: ffff80008010d4ac x9 : ffff800079c203d8 x8 : ffff800081cf3c88 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000008 x3 : 0000000000000030 x2 : 0000000000000008 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 00000000c5c4000e Call trace: mlx5_fw_tracer_trigger_core_dump_general+0x58/0xe0 [mlx5_core] (P) mlx5_fw_reporter_dump+0x30/0x2e0 [mlx5_core] devlink_health_do_dump+0x9c/0x160 devlink_health_report+0x1c0/0x288 mlx5_fw_reporter_err_work+0xac/0xc0 [mlx5_core] process_one_work+0x15c/0x3d8 worker_thread+0x18c/0x320 kthread+0x148/0x228 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Code: b9400000 5ac00800 7a401800 540003ca (3940a260) ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception SMP: stopping secondary CPUs Kernel Offset: disabled CPU features: 0x000000,00078031,75fce5a1,35fffe67 Memory Limit: none ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception ]---
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

