{"id":"CVE-2026-99196","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-99196"],"related":[],"title":"Linux kernel: au1000 Ethernet driver probe crashes with NULL dereference","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: au1000: move setting of netops to fix crash\n\nau1000_probe() calls au1000_mii_probe(), which connects the PHY,\nbefore dev->netdev_ops is assigned. phy_attach_direct() ->\nphy_link_topo_add_phy() reads dev->netdev_ops through\nnetdev_need_ops_lock() since the commit in question, so probing crashes\nwith a NULL pointer dereference when CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is enabled.\n\nAssign netdev_ops before the PHY attach, as was done for emac in commit\n7c9f391ec89c (\"net: emac: move setting of netops to fix crash\").","summary":"The au1000 Ethernet driver in the Linux kernel assigns its network operations after attaching the PHY, so probing the device dereferences a NULL pointer when CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is enabled. The result is a kernel crash during driver probe, a denial of service rather than a code execution path described in the sources.","severity":"unknown","cvss":null,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["embedded","linux-kernel","mips","runtime"],"not_affected_if":["default-config","no-au1000-hardware"],"how_to_check":"- Check whether the running kernel has CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, for example with `grep CONFIG_NET_SHAPER /boot/config-$(uname -r)`\n- Check whether the au1000 Ethernet driver is loaded or built in on the machine, for example with `lsmod | grep au1000`\n- unknown for any other exposure check; the sources do not say","fix":"- Update the Linux kernel to a release that includes the upstream commit moving the netdev_ops assignment before the PHY attach in au1000; the sources do not name the fixed version\n- unknown for any other action; the sources do not say","status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-28T11:17:40+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-28T11:32:37+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-28T11:34:07+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-28T11:34:07+00:00","category":"runtime","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-28T11:34:07Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"- Update the Linux kernel to a release that includes the upstream commit moving the netdev_ops assignment before the PHY attach in au1000; the sources do not name the fixed version\n- unknown for any other action; the sources do not say","reach":"local","title":"Linux kernel: au1000 Ethernet driver probe crashes with NULL dereference","impact":"low","summary":"The au1000 Ethernet driver in the Linux kernel assigns its network operations after attaching the PHY, so probing the device dereferences a NULL pointer when CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is enabled. The result is a kernel crash during driver probe, a denial of service rather than a code execution path described in the sources.","category":"runtime","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["linux-kernel","embedded","mips"],"confidence":0.6,"needs_auth":"no","worst_case":"Kernel crashes with a NULL pointer dereference during driver probe","analyst_note":"","how_to_check":"- Check whether the running kernel has CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, for example with `grep CONFIG_NET_SHAPER /boot/config-$(uname -r)`\n- Check whether the au1000 Ethernet driver is loaded or built in on the machine, for example with `lsmod | grep au1000`\n- unknown for any other exposure check; the sources do not say","needs_analyst":false,"not_affected_if":["default-config","no-au1000-hardware"],"who_is_affected":"Only systems running a Linux kernel with the au1000 Ethernet driver and CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled can hit the crash at probe time. The sources describe the crash on driver probe, not a remote trigger, and do not say which hardware is affected beyond the au1000 driver.","user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"yes","severity_if_unknown":"unknown"},"cost_usd":0.000668,"input_tokens":3448,"output_tokens":646,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2026':12A,15A '-99196':13A,16A '7c9f391ec89c':161C 'add':117C 'assign':31B,110C,147C 'attach':36B,112C,153C 'au1000':3A,24B,87C,95C,98C 'call':97C 'code':69B 'commit':130C,160C 'config':48B,142C 'connect':102C 'crash':7A,58B,94C,135C,170C 'cve':11A,14A 'denial':63B 'derefer':10A,43B,140C 'describ':72B 'dev':106C,120C 'devic':42B 'direct':113C 'done':156C 'driver':5A,26B,60B 'emac':158C,163C 'embed':17B 'enabl':52B,146C 'ethernet':4A,25B 'execut':70B 'fix':93C,169C 'follow':81C 'kernel':2A,20B,30B,57B,79C 'link':115C 'linux':1A,19B,29B,78C 'linux-kernel':18B 'lock':127C 'mii':99C 'mip':21B 'move':88C,164C 'need':125C 'net':49B,86C,143C,162C 'netdev':107C,121C,124C,148C 'netop':91C,167C 'network':33B 'null':9A,45B,138C 'op':108C,122C,126C,149C 'oper':34B 'path':71B 'phi':38B,104C,111C,114C,118C,152C 'pointer':46B,139C 'probe':6A,40B,61B,96C,100C,134C 'question':132C 'rather':66B 'read':119C 'resolv':85C 'result':54B 'runtim':22B 'servic':65B 'set':89C,165C 'shaper':50B,144C 'sinc':128C 'sourc':75B 'topo':116C 'vulner':82C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Only systems running a Linux kernel with the au1000 Ethernet driver and CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled can hit the crash at probe time. The sources describe the crash on driver probe, not a remote trigger, and do not say which hardware is affected beyond the au1000 driver.","tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-28T11:17:40+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":null,"cvss_by":null,"poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-99196","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99196","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-28T11:17:40+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-28T11:17:40+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-28T11:32:37+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-28T11:32:37+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"}