# CVE-2026-80992: net: ravb: avoid dereferencing an invalid PTP clock

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's ravb network driver can cause a system crash when querying PTP clock information before initialization.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 11 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-100793, BELL-CVE-2026-80992, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-80992, GHSA-j5jh-54qw-942f, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-80992

## What is CVE-2026-80992?

CVE-2026-80992 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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: ravb: avoid dereferencing an invalid PTP clock

The PTP clock is unavailable before the first open, so querying its
index can dereference a NULL pointer. Registration failures can also
leave an error pointer in priv->ptp.clock.

Cache the PHC index separately and report -1 while no clock is
registered. Normalize registration errors to NULL and preserve the
static timestamping capabilities.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-80992?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-80992?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-80992 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80992 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-80992 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-80992 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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-2026-80992 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-80992/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-80992/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-80992
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80992
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-80992

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-80992/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.