In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: sparx5: skip ptp deinit if init was skipped sparx5_ptp_init() returns early… (CVE-2026-98795)

The Linux kernel sparx5 network driver had a vulnerability where sparx5_ptp_init() could return early without initializing PTP-related resources if the SPX5_FEATURE_PTP flag was absent or no 'ptp' interrupt was described. However, sparx5_ptp_deinit() did not account for this early return and proceeded to deinitialize resources, leading to a NULL pointer dereference when cleaning up uninitialized tx_skbs queues. This caused kernel crashes during driver unbinding. The fix involves adding an early return in sparx5_ptp_deinit() to skip deinitialization if PTP was never initialized.

This vulnerability can cause a kernel NULL pointer dereference, resulting in a kernel crash (panic) when the sparx5 driver is unbound on affected systems. This impacts system stability but does not indicate privilege escalation or data corruption from the provided information.

A fix is available that modifies sparx5_ptp_deinit() to return early if PTP is not used, preventing the NULL pointer dereference. Users should apply the updated Linux kernel version containing this patch once released. No other mitigations are indicated.