# CVE-2026-98617: eth: fbnic: use the Rx queue napi pointer to find the napi vector

> A null pointer dereference in the fbnic network driver can cause a kernel crash when restarting queues during specific PCIe recovery scenarios.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-98617, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98617, GHSA-j327-5j79-p464, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98617

## What is CVE-2026-98617?

CVE-2026-98617 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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:

eth: fbnic: use the Rx queue napi pointer to find the napi vector

The queue management ndos pick the napi vector for an Rx queue with:
	nv = fbn->napi[idx % fbn->num_napi];

The issue is this is only correct in the cases where there are no
standalone Tx vectors. In those cases we were allocating the Tx vectors
first and then the Rx so the queues would be pointing to Tx NAPI vectors
instead of the Rx ones.

The mapping the ndos want is already recorded.  fbnic_set_netif_napi()
publishes it with netif_queue_set_napi(), which stores the napi pointer
in netdev_rx_queue.napi, and fbnic_reset_netif_napi() clears it again.
Both run under the netdev instance lock that the queue management ndos
also hold, so the pointer can be read directly.

Use it and drop the divide.  The pointer is NULL exactly while the
datapath is down, so fbnic_queue_mem_alloc() can reject that case rather
than reaching into freed state: netdev_rx_queue_restart() calls it
before it tests netif_running(), and fbnic_pm_suspend() leaves
netif_running() true across a PCIe recovery that never completes, so a
queue restart can arrive after fbnic_stop() has freed the rings and the
vectors.  fbnic_stop() clears the association in
fbnic_reset_netif_queues() before fbnic_free_napi_vectors(), so the
NULL is always published first.  fbnic_queue_start() and
fbnic_queue_stop() need no check of their own, as
netdev_rx_queue_reconfig() only reaches them once fbnic_queue_mem_alloc()
has succeeded under the same instance lock.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98617?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98617?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98617 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98617 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98617 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98617 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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-2026-98617 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-2026-98617/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98617/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98617
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98617
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98617

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98617/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.