Bug 2562688 (CVE-2026-99194)

Summary: CVE-2026-99194 kernel: kernel: Denial of Service via NULL pointer dereference in Aeroflex Ethernet driver
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Aeroflex Ethernet driver. During device probing, the driver attempts to attach the physical network interface before its network device operations are assigned. A local user can exploit this condition on systems with network traffic shaping enabled to trigger a NULL pointer dereference, resulting in a kernel crash and a Denial of Service (DoS).
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-28 10:49:18 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: ethernet: aeroflex: move setting of netops to fix crash

greth_of_probe() calls greth_mdio_init(), which 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.

Assign netdev_ops before the PHY attach, as was done for emac in commit
7c9f391ec89c ("net: emac: move setting of netops to fix crash").