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CVE-2026-80614
net: emac: Fix NULL pointer dereference in emac_probe
Published 2026-08-28 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/net. Debian urgency: unimportant.
Debian does not build this code. The per-release build detail is under "Where it lives" below.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-80614 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | vulnerable | 6.12.113-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Move devm_request_irq() after devm_platform_ioremap_resource() so that dev->emacp is mapped before the interrupt handler can fire. An early interrupt hitting emac_irq() would dereference the NULL dev->emacp and crash. Also remove redundant error message. devm_platform_ioremap_resource() already returns an error message with dev_err_probe().
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
drivers/net/ethernet/ibm/emac/core.c
- What this is
- NETWORKING DRIVERSMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/ · netdev@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- none to look for. The file would have gone into ibm_emac, and Debian does not compile it into that module, so finding ibm_emac in lsmod would say nothing about this CVE.
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_ETHERNET|CONFIG_IBM_EMAC|CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_IBM' /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian does not build this code. In 4 releases below, every kernel flavour Debian publishes has the switch off, so the vulnerable file is compiled into no kernel binary Debian ships.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidn
- n
- not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code
- Build switches
- CONFIG_ETHERNET, CONFIG_IBM_EMAC, CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_IBM
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-28 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.5 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.61%, higher than 48.1% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/net
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.12 | 6.18.40 | a103cdb0681e |
| 6.12 | 7.1.5 | 44068b6863fb |
| 6.12 | 7.2 | f623d38fe6c4 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:NAttack vector, network
- IBM EMAC error IRQs are raised by the on-chip Ethernet controller from wire-side events; a remote attacker on the attached network can send Ethernet traffic during emac_probe to assert interrupts that invoke emac_irq() before dev->emacp is ioremap'd.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- Once devm_request_irq() registers emac_irq(), any EMAC interrupt fires immediately; an attacker can sustain Ethernet flooding throughout boot/probe, and firmware often leaves the controller active with pending IRQs that hit the narrow pre-ioremap window reliably.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- Triggering EMAC hardware interrupts requires only the ability to send Ethernet frames on the connected network segment during driver probe, not local shell access, capabilities, or authenticated sessions.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation occurs during automatic platform-driver probe at kernel boot or module initialization; no discretionary user action is required beyond the device powering on with its Ethernet port connected.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- A NULL pointer dereference in the EMAC hard-IRQ handler causes a local kernel oops or panic only; it does not cross VM, container, or IOMMU security boundaries.
- C:NConfidentiality impact, none
- The bug dereferences a NULL dev->emacp when reading ISR registers via in_be32(), causing an immediate kernel fault with no attacker-controlled memory disclosure or out-of-bounds read.
- I:NIntegrity impact, none
- Impact is limited to a NULL pointer fault in hardirq context; there is no heap corruption, arbitrary write, or control-flow hijack primitive beyond the crash itself.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- A NULL pointer dereference in emac_irq() hard interrupt context causes a kernel oops or panic, rendering the entire system unavailable on affected PowerPC embedded platforms.