{"id":"CVE-2026-98795","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-98795"],"related":[],"title":"Linux kernel: sparx5 driver unbind crashes on NULL pointer dereference","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: sparx5: skip ptp deinit if init was skipped\n\nsparx5_ptp_init() returns early on the base lan969x variants\nbecause they do not have the SPX5_FEATURE_PTP flag. It also returns early\nwhen no \"ptp\" interrupt is described. Unbinding the driver then causes a\nNULL pointer dereference when cleaning up uninitialized tx_skbs queues:\n\n    Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address\n    0000000000000008\n    Call trace:\n    skb_queue_purge_reason+0x68/0x120 (P)\n    sparx5_ptp_deinit+0x64/0xc0\n    mchp_sparx5_remove+0x38/0x70\n    platform_remove+0x20/0x30\n    device_remove+0x4c/0x80\n\nBefore per-port tx_skbs were added, a NULL dereference would have happened\nwhen calling ptp_clock_unregister() on the never-registered PTP clocks.\n\nFix by returning early in sparx5_ptp_deinit() if PTP is not used.","summary":"In the Linux kernel's Microchip sparx5 network driver, unbinding the driver on lan969x variants without PTP support dereferences an uninitialized queue and crashes the kernel. The sources describe a local kernel NULL pointer dereference during driver removal and do not describe a remote attacker path.","severity":"unknown","cvss":null,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["embedded","lan969x","linux-kernel","runtime","sparx5"],"not_affected_if":["no-sparx5-hardware"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-18T16:17:33+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-25T05:15:09+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-25T05:15:09+00:00","category":"runtime","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-25T05:15:09Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Linux kernel: sparx5 driver unbind crashes on NULL pointer dereference","impact":"low","summary":"In the Linux kernel's Microchip sparx5 network driver, unbinding the driver on lan969x variants without PTP support dereferences an uninitialized queue and crashes the kernel. The sources describe a local kernel NULL pointer dereference during driver removal and do not describe a remote attacker path.","category":"runtime","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["linux-kernel","sparx5","lan969x","embedded"],"confidence":0.6,"needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"kernel crash on driver unbind, denial of service","analyst_note":"Find the fixed kernel versions and stable backport commit list for CVE-2026-98795 at the NVD page and the kernel.org stable mailing list.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-sparx5-hardware"],"who_is_affected":"Systems running Linux kernels with the Microchip sparx5 network driver on lan969x base variants, where the driver is unbound or removed. The sources do not say which kernel versions are affected or which fixed versions exist, so check the kernel package changelog for CVE-2026-98795.","user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"yes","severity_if_unknown":"unknown"},"cost_usd":0.000601,"input_tokens":3593,"output_tokens":483,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'+0':152C,158C,163C,167C,171C '-2026':12A,15A '-98795':13A,16A '0000000000000008':145C 'add':180C 'address':144C 'also':110C 'attack':68B 'base':96C 'call':146C,188C 'caus':123C 'clean':129C 'clock':190C,198C 'crash':6A,47B 'cve':11A,14A 'deinit':84C,157C,206C 'derefer':10A,42B,58B,127C,141C,183C 'describ':52B,65B,118C 'devic':169C 'driver':4A,32B,35B,60B,121C 'earli':93C,112C,202C 'embed':17B 'featur':106C 'fix':199C 'flag':108C 'follow':75C 'handl':137C 'happen':186C 'init':86C,91C 'interrupt':116C 'kernel':2A,21B,27B,49B,55B,73C,138C 'lan969x':18B,37B,97C 'linux':1A,20B,26B,72C 'linux-kernel':19B 'local':54B 'mchp':160C 'microchip':29B 'net':80C 'network':31B 'never':195C 'never-regist':194C 'null':8A,56B,125C,139C,182C 'p':154C 'path':69B 'per':175C 'per-port':174C 'platform':165C 'pointer':9A,57B,126C,140C 'port':176C 'ptp':40B,83C,90C,107C,115C,156C,189C,197C,205C,208C 'purg':150C 'queue':45B,134C,149C 'reason':151C 'regist':196C 'remot':67B 'remov':61B,162C,166C,170C 'resolv':79C 'return':92C,111C,201C 'runtim':22B 'skb':148C 'skbs':133C,178C 'skip':82C,88C 'sourc':51B 'sparx5':3A,23B,30B,81C,89C,155C,161C,204C 'spx5':105C 'support':41B 'trace':147C 'tx':132C,177C 'unabl':135C 'unbind':5A,33B,119C 'uniniti':44B,131C 'unregist':191C 'use':211C 'variant':38B,98C 'virtual':143C 'vulner':76C 'without':39B 'would':184C 'x20/0x30':168C 'x38/0x70':164C 'x4c/0x80':172C 'x64/0xc0':159C 'x68/0x120':153C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Systems running Linux kernels with the Microchip sparx5 network driver on lan969x base variants, where the driver is unbound or removed. The sources do not say which kernel versions are affected or which fixed versions exist, so check the kernel package changelog for CVE-2026-98795.","tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-18T16:17:33+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":null,"cvss_by":null,"poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-98795","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98795","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-18T16:17:33+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-19T10:19:43+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:28:56+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}