# CVE-2026-97962: net/mlx5e: Move representor vnic reporter to eswitch devlink port

> A race condition in the Linux kernel mlx5 driver causes a warning and potential instability during device unbind, requiring local root access to trigger.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-104487, BELL-CVE-2026-97962, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97962, GHSA-x3g2-ppf3-8gjh, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97962

## What is CVE-2026-97962?

CVE-2026-97962 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 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/mlx5e: Move representor vnic reporter to eswitch devlink port

The representor vnic devlink health reporter is created and destroyed
along the representor netdev (un)load path, which is not serialized by
the devlink instance lock. Destroying the reporter from there triggers
a devl_assert_locked() splat on driver unbind:
  WARNING: net/devlink/core.c:259 at devl_assert_locked+0x54/0x70, CPU#2: bash/3758
  Modules linked in: mlx5_vdpa vringh vdpa mlx5_ib mlx5_fwctl mlx5_core ...
  CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 3758 Comm: bash Tainted: G        W           6.19.0+ #1 PREEMPT
  Tainted: [W]=WARN
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), ...
  RIP: 0010:devl_assert_locked+0x54/0x70
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   devl_health_reporter_destroy+0x3a/0x1b0
   mlx5e_vport_rep_unload+0x12d/0x2b0 [mlx5_core]
   mlx5_eswitch_unregister_vport_reps+0x1b8/0x220 [mlx5_core]
   ? __esw_offloads_unload_rep+0x190/0x190 [mlx5_core]
   ? kernfs_remove_by_name_ns+0xc3/0xf0
   device_release_driver_internal+0x3b2/0x560
   unbind_store+0xce/0xf0

Move the reporter's lifecycle to the eswitch devlink port (un)register
paths, which are already serialized by the devlink instance lock, and
store the handle on mlx5_devlink_port. Use the port's mlx5_vport as the
reporter priv since the diagnose callback only needs a device handle and
a vport number, and mlx5_vport carries both and is initialized before
any representor driver probes.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97962?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97962?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-97962 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97962 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97962 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97962 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 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-2026-97962 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-2026-97962/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97962/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97962
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97962
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97962

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97962/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.