Executive brief
A vulnerability was identified in the Linux kernel's networking component that handles timestamping information for network devices. Under specific error conditions when querying network interface details, the system could attempt to process invalid memory pointers, leading to a kernel crash. This could result in a denial-of-service (system instability or reboot), impacting the availability of the affected server or workstation.
Technical details
A vulnerability exists in the ethtool tsinfo implementation within the Linux kernel (specifically in net/ethtool/tsinfo.c). The function ethnl_tsinfo_dump_one_netdev incorrectly handles error returns from ethnl_tsinfo_prepare_dump(). When this preparation function fails and returns an error pointer (ERR_PTR), the code jumps to an error label that calls genlmsg_cancel() using that invalid pointer. This results in a kernel oops/crash. An attacker or a malformed system state triggering this path can cause a local denial of service. The issue has been resolved by ensuring the function returns the error immediately without attempting to cancel a non-existent message.
Affected products
- Linux Linux 6.14 to 7.1
Timeline
- 2026-07-19: disclosed: Initial publication date
- 2026-07-19: advisory: NVD record published