CVE-2026-64228
Summary
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.
Impact & exploitability
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected products we track (1)
Recommendation
Apply the vendor fix in your normal patch cycle. Open any affected product above for its exact safe version.
Official patch: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17fe2381f967d353183f374a1c0181a6d194158c ↗