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Unscored CVE-2026-64228 EUVD-2026-48636GHSA-wx96-hrff-2rc8

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

Published Jul 24, 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: 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.

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
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gcp +1 7.0.0-1008.8 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1003.4 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1010.10 —
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 8

References