Bug 2506779 (CVE-2026-64228) - CVE-2026-64228 kernel: net: ethtool: phy: avoid NULL deref when PHY driver is unbound
Summary: CVE-2026-64228 kernel: net: ethtool: phy: avoid NULL deref when PHY driver is...
Keywords:
Status: NEW
Alias: CVE-2026-64228
Product: Security Response
Classification: Other
Component: vulnerability
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All
OS: Linux
low
low
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Product Security
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2026-07-24 16:01 UTC by OSIDB Bzimport
Modified: 2026-09-03 14:19 UTC (History)
17 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-07-24 16:01:56 UTC
In 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.

Comment 1 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-07-28 08:56:19 UTC
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026072418-CVE-2026-64228-064a@gregkh/T


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