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CVE-2026-89511
qede: Fix NULL pointer dereference in TPA fragment processing
Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/net. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89511 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 | fixedDLA-4841-1 · 2026-10-17 · text | 6.1.190-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4841-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-17, in 6.1.190-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6528-1 · 2026-09-29 · text | 6.12.111-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6528-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-29, in 6.12.111-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4817-1 · 2026-10-04 · text | 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4817-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-04, in 6.12.111-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Under memory pressure, the qede driver encounters NULL pointer dereferences when processing TPA continuation fragments. Commit 8a8633978b84 ("qede: Add build_skb() support.") accidentally dropped the assignment of tpa_info->buffer.data in qede_tpa_start(). When memory pressure causes an SKB allocation failure in qede_tpa_start(), the driver sets tpa_start_fail = true and attempts to recycle the physical page later in qede_tpa_end() via qede_reuse_page(). However, because buffer.data was left uninitialized (NULL), qede_reuse_page() pushes a "ghost" BD (valid DMA mapping but NULL data pointer) back into the active Rx ring. The next time the hardware uses this ring slot, it passes a NULL page to qede_fill_frag_skb(), causing a kernel panic. Example crash from production system: BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0x8 RIP: qede_fill_frag_skb+0x96/0x430 [qede] Call Trace: qede_rx_int+0xb06/0x1de0 qede_poll+0x2f4/0x6c0 __napi_poll+0x2d/0x130 Fix the root cause by restoring the tpa_info->buffer.data assignment in qede_tpa_start(), ensuring valid pages are correctly tracked and recycled. Additionally, update the stale comment for struct qede_agg_info::buffer to reflect its current usage.
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/qlogic/qede/qede.h
drivers/net/ethernet/qlogic/qede/qede_fp.c
- What this is
- QLOGIC QL4xxx ETHERNET DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/ethernet/qlogic/qede/ · netdev@vger.kernel.org · Orphan
- Kernel module
- qede
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_ETHERNET|CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_QLOGIC|CONFIG_QEDE' /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.
lsmod | grep -w qedePrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.
- bookwormMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
- trixieMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi
- forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12Mnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_ETHERNET, CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_QLOGIC, CONFIG_QEDE
- 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
- 2026-09-11 (37 days 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
- 0.71%, higher than 52.5% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 4.18 | 5.10.270 | e2214e279315 |
| 4.18 | 5.15.221 | dd8bc0a9d87d |
| 4.18 | 6.1.188 | fa7c9bd2c4a8 |
| 4.18 | 6.6.157 | a5e1fdc126ab |
| 4.18 | 6.12.109 | 7f911e208b3c |
| 4.18 | 6.18.50 | 2a952fb1b20d |
| 4.18 | 7.2.4 | f5c8619ccbd7 |
| 4.18 | 7.3 | 06aa3d26327f |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4841-1 | 2026-10-17 | bookworm 6.1.190-1 | tracker |
| DLA-4817-1 | 2026-10-04 | bookworm 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
| DSA-6528-1 | 2026-09-29 | trixie 6.12.111-1 | tracker |
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
- The bug is in qede TPA/GRO RX on Marvell/QLogic FastLinQ NICs used on internet-facing datacenter and cloud servers. Remote TCP segments cause firmware to post TPA CQEs handled by qede_msix_fp_int()->qede_poll()->qede_rx_int()->qede_rx_process_tpa_cqe()->qede_tpa_start()/qede_tpa_end()/qede_fill_frag_skb().
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- An attacker can send high-rate TCP streams that HW GRO (enabled by default) aggregates and flood GFP_ATOMIC skb allocations until qede_tpa_start() fails, then keep sending so the recycled ghost BD is consumed. No uncontrolled race or victim-specific layout is required; the attacker drives TPA and the allocation-failure condition.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- NIC receive and TPA completion handling run in softirq on inbound frames with no authentication, capability check, or local account. Any unauthenticated remote host that can send Ethernet/TCP traffic to a qede interface can reach the vulnerable path.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Packet reception, MSI-X interrupt handling, and NAPI polling process attacker frames automatically whenever the qede interface is up. The victim need not mount a filesystem, open a device, or otherwise interact.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The NULL dereference oops stays in the host kernel that owns the qede driver and RX rings. It does not cross a VM, IOMMU, container, or other security-authority boundary.
- C:NConfidentiality impact, none
- The fault is a pure NULL page-pointer dereference in qede_fill_frag_skb() (production RIP at offset 0x8) when a recycled ghost BD with buffer.data==NULL is consumed. There is no use-after-free reclaim, out-of-bounds read, or other disclosure primitive.
- I:NIntegrity impact, none
- skb_fill_page_desc()/page_ref_inc() abort immediately on the NULL page pointer without writing attacker-controlled data into other kernel objects, so there is no arbitrary-write or control-flow hijack primitive.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The documented production crash is a kernel NULL pointer dereference panic in NAPI/softirq context (qede_fill_frag_skb), which is a complete availability impact under kernel CVSS guidance and can be retriggered by further traffic.