CVE-2026-98359 PUBLISHED

RDMA/core: Reject unregistering netdevs in ib_get_eth_speed

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 25.09.2026 Published: 06.10.2026 Updated: 06.10.2026

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

RDMA/core: Reject unregistering netdevs in ib_get_eth_speed

ib_device_get_netdev() intentionally returns a referenced net_device even when it is unregistering, so matching and cleanup callers can still find the association. The reference keeps struct net_device allocated, but does not guarantee that the device remains operational.

ib_get_eth_speed() uses the returned device operationally by invoking its ethtool callback. Although that call is made under RTNL, the function does not verify the registration state first. An asynchronous RDMA port query can therefore call into a netdev after NETDEV_UNREGISTER and ndo_uninit have completed.

Check for NETREG_REGISTERED while holding RTNL and return -ENODEV for a device which is being unregistered. Keeping RTNL across the check and the ethtool operation prevents unregister from starting between them.

Keep the speed fallback and warning under RTNL as well, so the warning can safely read netdev->name. Drop the netdev reference before releasing RTNL once all accesses to the device are complete.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from d41861942fc55c14b6280d9568a0d0112037f065 to be4b44c8b47c67a04c08b1a0aba18006b749ae6a (excl.)
  • affected from d41861942fc55c14b6280d9568a0d0112037f065 to 45c60ffc79771bad154f224a05753191cf1b37bc (excl.)
  • affected from d41861942fc55c14b6280d9568a0d0112037f065 to 520cd057f138ed8dbe8e05f0eae3a8ed4c5d3a5e (excl.)
  • affected from d41861942fc55c14b6280d9568a0d0112037f065 to a219459fbd1b2598e63c81a52847eba6c28b72d2 (excl.)
  • affected from d41861942fc55c14b6280d9568a0d0112037f065 to 5bd42f74ec3b4f4687fb600f367af0828d513b3c (excl.)
  • affected from d41861942fc55c14b6280d9568a0d0112037f065 to ef9fbe1b93f3b617b96e86d5cd76b3fa44514cb5 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 4.14 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 4.14 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 6.1.189 to 6.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.6.158 to 6.6.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.112 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.54 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2.8 to 7.2.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.3-rc4 to * (incl.)

References