VulnerabilityPublished 28 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-99198: Linux kernel · net: ethernet: actions: Move setting of netops to fix crash

Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-99198

Not known to be exploited : upgrade to d2eca3a54f415081711cd102d0db733de5abf170 or c2c4824319850c87e77d26aeb8f860bc310a64d7 when convenient.

Data as of 28 Oct 2026, 13:42 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated Medium by Threat Radar's AI analysis · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

Patch: Available – fixed in d2eca3a54f415081711cd102d0db733de5abf170, c2c4824319850c87e77d26aeb8f860bc310a64d7

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-774f-f6jm-72cv

What to do

Upgrade Linux kernel to d2eca3a54f415081711cd102d0db733de5abf170 or c2c4824319850c87e77d26aeb8f860bc310a64d7.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ ded86da4bbb78cad74cecc368fee3ae3a296e2ca, < d2eca3a54f415081711cd102d0db733de5abf170	Fixed in d2eca3a54f415081711cd102d0db733de5abf170
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ ded86da4bbb78cad74cecc368fee3ae3a296e2ca, < c2c4824319850c87e77d26aeb8f860bc310a64d7	Fixed in c2c4824319850c87e77d26aeb8f860bc310a64d7
LinuxLinux	Affected =7.2	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented that moves the assignment of netdev_ops before the PHY attach to prevent the NULL pointer dereference crash. Users should apply the updated Linux kernel version containing this fix. No other mitigation steps are indicated.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ethernet actions code could cause a crash due to a NULL pointer dereference. The issue arises because netdev->netdev_ops is not assigned before the PHY attach process, leading to a crash when CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is enabled. This has been fixed by moving the assignment of netdev_ops before the PHY attach.

Impact

The vulnerability causes a kernel crash (NULL pointer dereference) during device probing when CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is enabled. This can lead to denial of service by crashing the kernel, affecting system stability.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the function owl_emac_probe() calls owl_emac_phy_init(), which connects the PHY before netdev->netdev_ops is assigned. Since a recent commit, phy_attach_direct() calls phy_link_topo_add_phy(), which reads dev->netdev_ops via netdev_need_ops_lock(). Because netdev_ops is NULL at this point, probing crashes with a NULL pointer dereference when CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is enabled. The fix involves assigning netdev_ops before the PHY attach, as done previously in a similar commit for emac.

References

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