# CVE-2024-26858: net/mlx5e: Use a memory barrier to enforce PTP WQ xmit submission tracking occurs after populating the metadata_map

> A race condition in the Mellanox mlx5e driver can cause a NULL pointer dereference, leading to a kernel crash and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Apr 2024
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26858, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26858, GHSA-hh88-fx3h-f447, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26858

## What is CVE-2024-26858?

CVE-2024-26858 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

net/mlx5e: Use a memory barrier to enforce PTP WQ xmit submission tracking occurs after populating the metadata_map

Just simply reordering the functions mlx5e_ptp_metadata_map_put and
mlx5e_ptpsq_track_metadata in the mlx5e_txwqe_complete context is not good
enough since both the compiler and CPU are free to reorder these two
functions. If reordering does occur, the issue that was supposedly fixed by
7e3f3ba97e6c ("net/mlx5e: Track xmit submission to PTP WQ after populating
metadata map") will be seen. This will lead to NULL pointer dereferences in
mlx5e_ptpsq_mark_ts_cqes_undelivered in the NAPI polling context due to the
tracking list being populated before the metadata map.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26858?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-26858?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-26858 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26858 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-26858 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-26858 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26858 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26858/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26858/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26858
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26858
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26858

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26858/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.