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Linux CVE-2026-22985

MEDIUM
NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)
2026-01-23 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
5.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY
5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
SUSE
MEDIUM
qualitative
Red Hat
6.2 MEDIUM
qualitative

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Patch released
Apr 02, 2026 - 12:16 nvd
Patch available
Analysis Generated
Mar 12, 2026 - 21:54 vuln.today
CVE Published
Jan 23, 2026 - 16:15 nvd
MEDIUM 5.5

DescriptionCVE.org

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

idpf: Fix RSS LUT NULL pointer crash on early ethtool operations

The RSS LUT is not initialized until the interface comes up, causing the following NULL pointer crash when ethtool operations like rxhash on/off are performed before the interface is brought up for the first time.

Move RSS LUT initialization from ndo_open to vport creation to ensure LUT is always available. This enables RSS configuration via ethtool before bringing the interface up. Simplify LUT management by maintaining all changes in the driver's soft copy and programming zeros to the indirection table when rxhash is disabled. Defer HW programming until the interface comes up if it is down during rxhash and LUT configuration changes.

Steps to reproduce: Load idpf driver; interfaces will be created modprobe idpf Before bringing the interfaces up, turn rxhash off ethtool -K eth2 rxhash off

[89408.371875] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 [89408.371908] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [89408.371924] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [89408.371940] PGD 0 P4D 0 [89408.371953] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI <snip> [89408.372052] RIP: 0010:memcpy_orig+0x16/0x130 [89408.372310] Call Trace: [89408.372317] <TASK> [89408.372326] ? idpf_set_features+0xfc/0x180 [idpf] [89408.372363] __netdev_update_features+0x295/0xde0 [89408.372384] ethnl_set_features+0x15e/0x460 [89408.372406] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x11f/0x180 [89408.372429] genl_rcv_msg+0x1ad/0x2b0 [89408.372446] ? __pfx_ethnl_set_features+0x10/0x10 [89408.372465] ? __pfx_genl_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10 [89408.372482] netlink_rcv_skb+0x58/0x100 [89408.372502] genl_rcv+0x2c/0x50 [89408.372516] netlink_unicast+0x289/0x3e0 [89408.372533] netlink_sendmsg+0x215/0x440 [89408.372551] __sys_sendto+0x234/0x240 [89408.372571] __x64_sys_sendto+0x28/0x30 [89408.372585] x64_sys_call+0x1909/0x1da0 [89408.372604] do_syscall_64+0x7a/0xfa0 [89408.373140] ? clear_bhb_loop+0x60/0xb0 [89408.373647] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [89408.378887] </TASK> <snip>

AnalysisAI

The Linux kernel's idpf driver crashes with a NULL pointer dereference when ethtool RSS operations are performed before the network interface is brought up, affecting systems using this driver. A local attacker with unprivileged user access can trigger a denial of service by executing RSS configuration commands on a down interface. The vulnerability is resolved by initializing the RSS lookup table during vport creation rather than at interface startup.

Technical ContextAI

Classified as CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference). Affects the ethtool before bringing the component of Linux Kernel. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

idpf: Fix RSS LUT NULL pointer crash on early ethtool operations

The RSS LUT is not initialized until the interface comes up, causing the following NULL pointer crash when ethtool operations like rxhash on/off are performed before the interface is brought up for the first time.

Move RSS LUT initialization from ndo_open to vport creation to ensure LUT is always available. This enables RSS configuration via ethtool before bring

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available — apply it immediately.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Medium
Product Status
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container:2.1.3-6.35 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/toolbox:13.2-9.1 Image SLE-Micro-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SLE-Micro-GCE Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container:2.1.3-7.95 Image SL-Micro Image SLE-Micro Image SLE-Micro-EC2 Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container:2.1.3-6.115 Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/rt-os-container:2.1.3-7.146 Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/base-os-container:2.2.1-5.80 Image SL-Micro-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-ltd Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-ltd Affected

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CVE-2026-22985 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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