# CVE-2026-31728: usb: gadget: u_ether: Fix race between gether_disconnect and eth_stop

> A race condition in the Linux kernel USB gadget driver causes a NULL pointer dereference and hardlockup, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 1 May 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-31728, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31728, GHSA-fhp6-cw2v-3rqj, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31728, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31728, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31728, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31728

## What is CVE-2026-31728?

CVE-2026-31728 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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:

usb: gadget: u_ether: Fix race between gether_disconnect and eth_stop

A race condition between gether_disconnect() and eth_stop() leads to a
NULL pointer dereference. Specifically, if eth_stop() is triggered
concurrently while gether_disconnect() is tearing down the endpoints,
eth_stop() attempts to access the cleared endpoint descriptor, causing
the following NPE:

  Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference
  Call trace:
   __dwc3_gadget_ep_enable+0x60/0x788
   dwc3_gadget_ep_enable+0x70/0xe4
   usb_ep_enable+0x60/0x15c
   eth_stop+0xb8/0x108

Because eth_stop() crashes while holding the dev->lock, the thread
running gether_disconnect() fails to acquire the same lock and spins
forever, resulting in a hardlockup:

  Core - Debugging Information for Hardlockup core(7)
  Call trace:
   queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x94/0x488
   _raw_spin_lock+0x64/0x6c
   gether_disconnect+0x19c/0x1e8
   ncm_set_alt+0x68/0x1a0
   composite_setup+0x6a0/0xc50

The root cause is that the clearing of dev->port_usb in
gether_disconnect() is delayed until the end of the function.

Move the clearing of dev->port_usb to the very beginning of
gether_disconnect() while holding dev->lock. This cuts off the link
immediately, ensuring eth_stop() will see dev->port_usb as NULL and
safely bail out.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31728?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31728?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31728 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31728 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-2026-31728 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31728 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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-2026-31728 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-2026-31728/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31728/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31728
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31728
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31728

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31728/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.