CVE-2026-23041 bnxt_en: Fix NULL pointer crash in bnxt_ptp_enable during error cleanup
A NULL pointer dereference in the bnxt_en driver causes a kernel crash during initialization failure, leading to denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-23041?
CVE-2026-23041 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 4 Feb 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:
bnxt_en: Fix NULL pointer crash in bnxt_ptp_enable during error cleanup
When bnxt_init_one() fails during initialization (e.g., bnxt_init_int_mode returns -ENODEV), the error path calls bnxt_free_hwrm_resources() which destroys the DMA pool and sets bp->hwrm_dma_pool to NULL. Subsequently, bnxt_ptp_clear() is called, which invokes ptp_clock_unregister().
Since commit a60fc3294a37 ("ptp: rework ptp_clock_unregister() to disable events"), ptp_clock_unregister() now calls ptp_disable_all_events(), which in turn invokes the driver's .enable() callback (bnxt_ptp_enable()) to disable PTP events before completing the unregistration.
bnxt_ptp_enable() attempts to send HWRM commands via bnxt_ptp_cfg_pin() and bnxt_ptp_cfg_event(), both of which call hwrm_req_init(). This function tries to allocate from bp->hwrm_dma_pool, causing a NULL pointer dereference:
bnxt_en 0000:01:00.0 (unnamed net_device) (uninitialized): bnxt_init_int_mode err: ffffffed KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000028-0x000000000000002f] Call Trace: __hwrm_req_init (drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_hwrm.c:72) bnxt_ptp_enable (drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ptp.c:323 drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ptp.c:517) ptp_disable_all_events (drivers/ptp/ptp_chardev.c:66) ptp_clock_unregister (drivers/ptp/ptp_clock.c:518) bnxt_ptp_clear (drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ptp.c:1134) bnxt_init_one (drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt.c:16889)
Lines are against commit f8f9c1f4d0c7 ("Linux 6.19-rc3")
Fix this by clearing and unregistering ptp (bnxt_ptp_clear()) before freeing HWRM resources.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23041?
How do I fix CVE-2026-23041?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-23041 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23041 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23041, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23041, GHSA-f2r6-xf7j-hxvf, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23041.