CVE-2026-98014 net/mlx5: E-Switch, prevent mc_list repopulation during vport disable
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel mlx5 driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute code during vport disable operations.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-98014?
CVE-2026-98014 is an use after free 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/mlx5: E-Switch, prevent mc_list repopulation during vport disable
In mlx5_esw_vport_disable(), move esw_apply_vport_rx_mode() ahead of esw_vport_change_handle_locked() so vport->allmulti_rule is NULL before the change handler observes it.
During FW-fatal recovery the disable runs while dev->state == INTERNAL_ERROR. The promisc query inside esw_update_vport_rx_mode() fails and returns early, leaving vport->allmulti_rule intact, so esw_update_vport_mc_promisc() runs and adds MLX5_ACTION_ADD entries to vport->mc_list whose flow rules are then installed in the FDB by esw_add_mc_addr(). esw_destroy_legacy_table() tears down the FDB with those refs still held, corrupting the sub-tree and leaving dangling flow_rule pointers in vport->mc_list.
Two-stage failure on `echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/<bdf>/reset`:
refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. tree_put_node+0xef/0x110 [mlx5_core] clean_tree+0x44/0xd0 [mlx5_core] (x5) mlx5_fs_core_cleanup+0x57/0x1c0 [mlx5_core] mlx5_unload+0x65/0xd0 [mlx5_core] ... mlx5_health_try_recover
BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000003000055 down_write+0x1c/0x60 mlx5_del_flow_rules+0x33/0x1f0 [mlx5_core] esw_del_mc_addr+0x7b/0x170 [mlx5_core] esw_apply_vport_addr_list+0x56/0xf0 [mlx5_core] esw_vport_change_handle_locked+0x28b/0x310 [mlx5_core] mlx5_esw_vport_enable+0x270/0x4a0 [mlx5_core] ... mlx5_load ... mlx5_health_try_recover
esw_apply_vport_rx_mode(false, false) clears vport->allmulti_rule via its local state machine even when the FW del fails. With the rule NULL the !IS_ERR_OR_NULL(allmulti_rule) gate in the change handler closes, no rules are installed during disable, and the reload starts with a clean mc_list.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98014?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98014?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-98014 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98014 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-104759, BELL-CVE-2026-98014, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98014, GHSA-hjxx-jpr5-hfgw, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98014.