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GHSA-84R8-C8CX-WHP6

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-18 18:31 – Updated: 2026-10-18 18:31

Details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: phylink: record the PHY only once bringup cannot fail

phylink_bringup_phy() stores the PHY in pl->phydev before its last fallible step: on a MAC whose phylink ops implement LPI, phy_eee_rx_clock_stop() can fail with a real MDIO error. The callers unwind with phy_detach(), which knows nothing about pl->phydev, so a pointer to a PHY that is no longer attached outlives the failed connect.

What that costs depends on how the caller got here. phylink_connect_phy() goes through phylink_attach_phy(), which refuses to attach while pl->phydev is set, turning a transient MDIO error into a permanent -EBUSY. The SFP path is worse than that: sfp_sm_probe_phy() answers the failure with phy_device_remove() and phy_device_free(), and it assigns sfp->mod_phy only past that error return, so nothing clears pl->phydev and it is left pointing at a freed phy_device that phylink_resolve() and the ethtool helpers go on reading. phylink_fwnode_phy_connect() has no such check, so a later connect overwrites the stale pointer and hides the problem. A disconnect does not: phylink_disconnect_phy() hands that pointer to phy_disconnect(), and the second phy_detach() on the same PHY drops references the first one already released.

Found while making a DSA port survive a PHY whose driver arrives after the switch probes: keeping the port across a failed connect and retrying is what makes this window reachable.

Publish the pointer after the last call that can fail instead of unwinding it afterwards. Nothing between the two points reads pl->phydev, and the registration that follows cannot fail: phy_request_interrupt() falls back to polling on its own. The PHY-side state keeps the order it had, so no MDIO operation moves relative to another.

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-98563"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-10-18T16:17:08Z",
    "severity": null
  },
  "details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: phylink: record the PHY only once bringup cannot fail\n\nphylink_bringup_phy() stores the PHY in pl-\u003ephydev before its last\nfallible step: on a MAC whose phylink ops implement LPI,\nphy_eee_rx_clock_stop() can fail with a real MDIO error. The callers\nunwind with phy_detach(), which knows nothing about pl-\u003ephydev, so a\npointer to a PHY that is no longer attached outlives the failed\nconnect.\n\nWhat that costs depends on how the caller got here.\nphylink_connect_phy() goes through phylink_attach_phy(), which refuses\nto attach while pl-\u003ephydev is set, turning a transient MDIO error into\na permanent -EBUSY. The SFP path is worse than that: sfp_sm_probe_phy()\nanswers the failure with phy_device_remove() and phy_device_free(), and\nit assigns sfp-\u003emod_phy only past that error return, so nothing clears\npl-\u003ephydev and it is left pointing at a freed phy_device that\nphylink_resolve() and the ethtool helpers go on reading.\nphylink_fwnode_phy_connect() has no such check, so a later connect\noverwrites the stale pointer and hides the problem. A disconnect does\nnot: phylink_disconnect_phy() hands that pointer to phy_disconnect(),\nand the second phy_detach() on the same PHY drops references the first\none already released.\n\nFound while making a DSA port survive a PHY whose driver arrives after\nthe switch probes: keeping the port across a failed connect and\nretrying is what makes this window reachable.\n\nPublish the pointer after the last call that can fail instead of\nunwinding it afterwards. Nothing between the two points reads\npl-\u003ephydev, and the registration that follows cannot fail:\nphy_request_interrupt() falls back to polling on its own. The PHY-side\nstate keeps the order it had, so no MDIO operation moves relative to\nanother.",
  "id": "GHSA-84r8-c8cx-whp6",
  "modified": "2026-10-18T18:31:54Z",
  "published": "2026-10-18T18:31:54Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98563"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e7a4af364c2048bafb213bf0ef4a89dcbe1bfd4"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/671a68654a9d319d7f0d53a6321db3d9b391bdef"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a940003f44e7e441c228151dd212642152700ec8"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": []
}

CVE-2026-98563 (GCVE-0-2026-98563)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-18 15:18 – Updated: 2026-10-19 09:21

Title

net: phylink: record the PHY only once bringup cannot fail

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phylink: record the PHY only once bringup cannot fail phylink_bringup_phy() stores the PHY in pl->phydev before its last fallible step: on a MAC whose phylink ops implement LPI, phy_eee_rx_clock_stop() can fail with a real MDIO error. The callers unwind with phy_detach(), which knows nothing about pl->phydev, so a pointer to a PHY that is no longer attached outlives the failed connect. What that costs depends on how the caller got here. phylink_connect_phy() goes through phylink_attach_phy(), which refuses to attach while pl->phydev is set, turning a transient MDIO error into a permanent -EBUSY. The SFP path is worse than that: sfp_sm_probe_phy() answers the failure with phy_device_remove() and phy_device_free(), and it assigns sfp->mod_phy only past that error return, so nothing clears pl->phydev and it is left pointing at a freed phy_device that phylink_resolve() and the ethtool helpers go on reading. phylink_fwnode_phy_connect() has no such check, so a later connect overwrites the stale pointer and hides the problem. A disconnect does not: phylink_disconnect_phy() hands that pointer to phy_disconnect(), and the second phy_detach() on the same PHY drops references the first one already released. Found while making a DSA port survive a PHY whose driver arrives after the switch probes: keeping the port across a failed connect and retrying is what makes this window reachable. Publish the pointer after the last call that can fail instead of unwinding it afterwards. Nothing between the two points reads pl->phydev, and the registration that follows cannot fail: phy_request_interrupt() falls back to polling on its own. The PHY-side state keeps the order it had, so no MDIO operation moves relative to another.

Severity

No CVSS data available.

Assigner

Linux CNA under the mitre root

CNA scorecard D 53/100 over 6820 records in the last 180 days details

References

3 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e7a4af364c2048ba…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/671a68654a9d319d7…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a940003f44e7e441c…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version
Linux	Linux	Affected: 03abf2a7c65451e663b078b0ed1bfa648cd9380f , < 4e7a4af364c2048bafb213bf0ef4a89dcbe1bfd4 (git) Affected: 03abf2a7c65451e663b078b0ed1bfa648cd9380f , < 671a68654a9d319d7f0d53a6321db3d9b391bdef (git) Affected: 03abf2a7c65451e663b078b0ed1bfa648cd9380f , < a940003f44e7e441c228151dd212642152700ec8 (git)
Linux	Linux	Affected: 6.14 Unaffected: 0 , < 6.14 (semver) Unaffected: 6.18.55 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver) Unaffected: 7.2.9 , ≤ 7.2.* (semver) Unaffected: 7.3 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)

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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/phy/phylink.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "4e7a4af364c2048bafb213bf0ef4a89dcbe1bfd4",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "03abf2a7c65451e663b078b0ed1bfa648cd9380f",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "671a68654a9d319d7f0d53a6321db3d9b391bdef",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "03abf2a7c65451e663b078b0ed1bfa648cd9380f",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "a940003f44e7e441c228151dd212642152700ec8",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "03abf2a7c65451e663b078b0ed1bfa648cd9380f",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/phy/phylink.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.14"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "6.14",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.55",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2.9",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.3",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.55",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.2.9",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.3",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: phylink: record the PHY only once bringup cannot fail\n\nphylink_bringup_phy() stores the PHY in pl-\u003ephydev before its last\nfallible step: on a MAC whose phylink ops implement LPI,\nphy_eee_rx_clock_stop() can fail with a real MDIO error. The callers\nunwind with phy_detach(), which knows nothing about pl-\u003ephydev, so a\npointer to a PHY that is no longer attached outlives the failed\nconnect.\n\nWhat that costs depends on how the caller got here.\nphylink_connect_phy() goes through phylink_attach_phy(), which refuses\nto attach while pl-\u003ephydev is set, turning a transient MDIO error into\na permanent -EBUSY. The SFP path is worse than that: sfp_sm_probe_phy()\nanswers the failure with phy_device_remove() and phy_device_free(), and\nit assigns sfp-\u003emod_phy only past that error return, so nothing clears\npl-\u003ephydev and it is left pointing at a freed phy_device that\nphylink_resolve() and the ethtool helpers go on reading.\nphylink_fwnode_phy_connect() has no such check, so a later connect\noverwrites the stale pointer and hides the problem. A disconnect does\nnot: phylink_disconnect_phy() hands that pointer to phy_disconnect(),\nand the second phy_detach() on the same PHY drops references the first\none already released.\n\nFound while making a DSA port survive a PHY whose driver arrives after\nthe switch probes: keeping the port across a failed connect and\nretrying is what makes this window reachable.\n\nPublish the pointer after the last call that can fail instead of\nunwinding it afterwards. Nothing between the two points reads\npl-\u003ephydev, and the registration that follows cannot fail:\nphy_request_interrupt() falls back to polling on its own. The PHY-side\nstate keeps the order it had, so no MDIO operation moves relative to\nanother."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:21:47.748Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/671a68654a9d319d7f0d53a6321db3d9b391bdef"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a940003f44e7e441c228151dd212642152700ec8"
        }
      ],
      "title": "net: phylink: record the PHY only once bringup cannot fail",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
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  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-98563",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-18T15:18:30.158Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:25:14.357Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:21:47.748Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

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Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

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