# CVE-2026-23166: ice: Fix NULL pointer dereference in ice_vsi_set_napi_queues

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Intel ice network driver causes a kernel crash during system resume, 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:** 14 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23166, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23166, GHSA-5p9c-24w4-pq6q, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23166, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23166

## What is CVE-2026-23166?

CVE-2026-23166 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 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:

ice: Fix NULL pointer dereference in ice_vsi_set_napi_queues

Add NULL pointer checks in ice_vsi_set_napi_queues() to prevent crashes
during resume from suspend when rings[q_idx]->q_vector is NULL.

Tested adaptor:
60:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller E810-XXV for SFP [8086:159b] (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Ethernet Network Adapter E810-XXV-2 [8086:4003]

SR-IOV state: both disabled and enabled can reproduce this issue.

kernel version: v6.18

Reproduce steps:
Boot up and execute suspend like systemctl suspend or rtcwake.

Log:
<1>[  231.443607] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000040
<1>[  231.444052] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
<1>[  231.444484] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
<6>[  231.444913] PGD 0 P4D 0
<4>[  231.445342] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
<4>[  231.446635] RIP: 0010:netif_queue_set_napi+0xa/0x170
<4>[  231.447067] Code: 31 f6 31 ff c3 cc cc cc cc 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 85 c9 74 0b <48> 83 79 30 00 0f 84 39 01 00 00 55 41 89 d1 49 89 f8 89 f2 48 89
<4>[  231.447513] RSP: 0018:ffffcc780fc078c0 EFLAGS: 00010202
<4>[  231.447961] RAX: ffff8b848ca30400 RBX: ffff8b848caf2028 RCX: 0000000000000010
<4>[  231.448443] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff8b848dbd4000
<4>[  231.448896] RBP: ffffcc780fc078e8 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
<4>[  231.449345] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000001
<4>[  231.449817] R13: ffff8b848dbd4000 R14: ffff8b84833390c8 R15: 0000000000000000
<4>[  231.450265] FS:  00007c7b29e9d740(0000) GS:ffff8b8c068e2000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
<4>[  231.450715] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
<4>[  231.451179] CR2: 0000000000000040 CR3: 000000030626f004 CR4: 0000000000f72ef0
<4>[  231.451629] PKRU: 55555554
<4>[  231.452076] Call Trace:
<4>[  231.452549]  <TASK>
<4>[  231.452996]  ? ice_vsi_set_napi_queues+0x4d/0x110 [ice]
<4>[  231.453482]  ice_resume+0xfd/0x220 [ice]
<4>[  231.453977]  ? __pfx_pci_pm_resume+0x10/0x10
<4>[  231.454425]  pci_pm_resume+0x8c/0x140
<4>[  231.454872]  ? __pfx_pci_pm_resume+0x10/0x10
<4>[  231.455347]  dpm_run_callback+0x5f/0x160
<4>[  231.455796]  ? dpm_wait_for_superior+0x107/0x170
<4>[  231.456244]  device_resume+0x177/0x270
<4>[  231.456708]  dpm_resume+0x209/0x2f0
<4>[  231.457151]  dpm_resume_end+0x15/0x30
<4>[  231.457596]  suspend_devices_and_enter+0x1da/0x2b0
<4>[  231.458054]  enter_state+0x10e/0x570

Add defensive checks for both the ring pointer and its q_vector
before dereferencing, allowing the system to resume successfully even when
q_vectors are unmapped.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23166?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23166?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23166 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23166 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-2026-23166 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23166 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 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-2026-23166 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-2026-23166/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23166/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23166
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23166
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23166

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23166/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
