CVE-2026-23042 idpf: fix aux device unplugging when rdma is not supported by vport
A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel idpf driver causes a denial of service when unplugging auxiliary devices for vports without RDMA support.
- 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-2026-23042?
CVE-2026-23042 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:
idpf: fix aux device unplugging when rdma is not supported by vport
If vport flags do not contain VIRTCHNL2_VPORT_ENABLE_RDMA, driver does not allocate vdev_info for this vport. This leads to kernel NULL pointer dereference in idpf_idc_vport_dev_down(), which references vdev_info for every vport regardless.
Check, if vdev_info was ever allocated before unplugging aux device.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23042?
How do I fix CVE-2026-23042?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-23042 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23042 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23042, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23042, GHSA-8936-48hj-4rqp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23042.