# CVE-2026-22996: net/mlx5e: Don't store mlx5e_priv in mlx5e_dev devlink priv

> A null pointer dereference in the mlx5e driver causes a kernel oops when switchdev mode fails, leading to 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:** 25 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77295, AZL-78476, BELL-CVE-2026-22996, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-22996, GHSA-r233-7m73-5h45, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-22996, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-22996, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-22996, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-22996, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-22996

## What is CVE-2026-22996?

CVE-2026-22996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jan 2026. 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: Don't store mlx5e_priv in mlx5e_dev devlink priv

mlx5e_priv is an unstable structure that can be memset(0) if profile
attaching fails, mlx5e_priv in mlx5e_dev devlink private is used to
reference the netdev and mdev associated with that struct. Instead,
store netdev directly into mlx5e_dev and get mdev from the containing
mlx5_adev aux device structure.

This fixes a kernel oops in mlx5e_remove when switchdev mode fails due
to change profile failure.

$ devlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:00:03.0 mode switchdev
Error: mlx5_core: Failed setting eswitch to offloads.
dmesg:
workqueue: Failed to create a rescuer kthread for wq "mlx5e": -EINTR
mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1: mlx5e_netdev_init_profile:6214:(pid 37199): mlx5e_priv_init failed, err=-12
mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1 gpu3rdma1: mlx5e_netdev_change_profile: new profile init failed, -12
workqueue: Failed to create a rescuer kthread for wq "mlx5e": -EINTR
mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1: mlx5e_netdev_init_profile:6214:(pid 37199): mlx5e_priv_init failed, err=-12
mlx5_core 0012:03:00.1 gpu3rdma1: mlx5e_netdev_change_profile: failed to rollback to orig profile, -12

$ devlink dev reload pci/0000:00:03.0 ==> oops

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000520
 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
 #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
PGD 0 P4D 0
Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 521 Comm: devlink Not tainted 6.18.0-rc5+ #117 PREEMPT(voluntary)
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:mlx5e_remove+0x68/0x130
RSP: 0018:ffffc900034838f0 EFLAGS: 00010246
RAX: ffff88810283c380 RBX: ffff888101874400 RCX: ffffffff826ffc45
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: 0000000000000000
RBP: ffff888102d789c0 R08: ffff8881007137f0 R09: ffff888100264e10
R10: ffffc90003483898 R11: ffffc900034838a0 R12: ffff888100d261a0
R13: ffff888100d261a0 R14: ffff8881018749a0 R15: ffff888101874400
FS:  00007f8565fea740(0000) GS:ffff88856a759000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000000000000520 CR3: 000000010b11a004 CR4: 0000000000370ef0
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 device_release_driver_internal+0x19c/0x200
 bus_remove_device+0xc6/0x130
 device_del+0x160/0x3d0
 ? devl_param_driverinit_value_get+0x2d/0x90
 mlx5_detach_device+0x89/0xe0
 mlx5_unload_one_devl_locked+0x3a/0x70
 mlx5_devlink_reload_down+0xc8/0x220
 devlink_reload+0x7d/0x260
 devlink_nl_reload_doit+0x45b/0x5a0
 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xe8/0x140

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-22996?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-22996?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-22996 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22996 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-2026-22996 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-22996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jan 2026. 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-2026-22996 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-2026-22996/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22996/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-22996
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22996
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-22996

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22996/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.