qede: Fix NULL pointer dereference in TPA fragment processing
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: qede: Fix NULL pointer dereference in TPA fragment processing 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.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.109, 6.18.50, 7.2.4, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-89511
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-7j5j-83jx-4ffc
- 2026-10-16 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-18 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2214e2793154b745436e46c6a9a7985d9b3781d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd8bc0a9d87d2b048711edd17ba7286432edd285
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fa7c9bd2c4a8de167e2fb32968ca4d91dd774375
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5e1fdc126ab337d601d1a00cc4b47910679d005
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f911e208b3ca2c76d9f2bbba1f54b9403568c10
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2a952fb1b20d83e83ca852773e6188511f7d2191
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f5c8619ccbd70102642120c4c6fda1c048a555fd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06aa3d26327f24edd039ff249672fdf6f2ba5695
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Sources
- CVE-2026-89511 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-89511 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-7j5j-83jx-4ffc · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-89511 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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