NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-64228
Published: July 27, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU139778
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 6.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-64228
CWE-ID: CWE-476
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference in net/ethtool/phy.c when handling ETHTOOL_MSG_PHY_GET requests for a phy_device whose PHY driver has been unbound. A local user can unbind the PHY driver via sysfs and trigger the request to cause a denial of service.
The issue occurs because the phy_device can remain attached to its net_device after the PHY driver is unbound, leaving the device reachable through the link topology xarray.
Affected software
Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-bos (Ubuntu package)
Ubuntu
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-bos (Ubuntu package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-64228
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1009.9, 7.0.0-1015.15
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1016.16, 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1
linux-nvidia-bos (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-2016.16
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1009.9, 7.0.0-1015.15
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1016.16, 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1
linux-nvidia-bos (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-2016.16