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Unscored CVE-2026-64120 EUVD-2026-45805GHSA-4j8v-vv2j-8xpv

net: ethtool: fix NULL pointer dereference in phy_reply_size

Published Jul 19, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-7.0 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-7.0 Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-7.0 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-7.0 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-7.0 Package: linux-nvidia-bos Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oem-7.0 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-7.0 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-7.0 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: ethtool: fix NULL pointer dereference in phy_reply_size

In phy_prepare_data(), several strings such as 'name', 'drvname',
'upstream_sfp_name', and 'downstream_sfp_name' are allocated using
kstrdup(). However, these allocations were not checked for failure.

If kstrdup() fails for 'name', it returns NULL while the function
continues. This leads to a kernel NULL pointer dereference and panic
later in phy_reply_size() when it unconditionally calls strlen() on
the NULL pointer.

While other strings like 'upstream_sfp_name' might be checked before
access in certain code paths, failing to handle these allocations
consistently can lead to incomplete data reporting or hidden bugs.

Fix this by adding proper NULL checks for all kstrdup() calls in
phy_prepare_data() and implement a centralized error handling path
using goto labels to ensure all previously allocated resources are
freed on failure.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.16 6.18.34

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 7.0.12-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-28.28 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws +2 7.0.0-1009.9 USN-8618-1, USN-8603-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gcp +1 7.0.0-1008.8 USN-8593-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1003.4 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1010.10 USN-8603-1, USN-8593-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia 7.0.0-1016.16 USN-8663-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia-bos 7.0.0-2016.16 USN-8664-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1015.15 USN-8618-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv +1 7.0.0-28.28.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-7.0 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1 USN-8728-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-7.0 +1 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1 USN-8728-3, USN-8728-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-28.28~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-7.0 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-8663-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +26 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-28.28.1~24.04.3 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.18.35-68.127 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1881
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +12 1:6.18.35-68.127.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1881

Advisories 10

References