HIGH Introduced in 6.16
ngbe IntrEnable Deref
CVE-2026-74741
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
KernelScan AI4.4MEDIUM
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ngbe: fix NULL pointer dereference in non-MSI-X interrupt enabling In non-MSI-X mode (such as legacy INTx or single MSI), wx->msix_entry is not allocated or initialized. Calling NGBE_INTR_MISC(wx) dereferences wx->msix_entry->entry, leading to a NULL pointer dereference crash. This issue was introduced by fixing the IRQ vector when the number of VFs is 7. Fix the issue by explicitly checking `pdev->msix_enabled` to determine the correct vector index. Additionally, as a side fix, set the interrupt mask to BIT(0) for the non-MSI-X fallback. In MSI/INTx mode, the MISC and queue interrupts share vector 0, and the WX_PX_MISC_IVAR register is only valid in the MSI-X case. Thus, BIT(0) is the correct mask for the miscellaneous cause when MSI-X is disabled.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A NULL pointer dereference in the ngbe network driver occurs when enabling interrupts in non-MSI-X mode (legacy INTx or single MSI). The crash is triggered during driver operation on affected WangXun NGBE hardware, causing a kernel panic and denial of service.
Vulnerability analysis
When the ngbe network driver enables interrupts without MSI-X support, it dereferences a pointer that was never allocated for that mode, causing an immediate kernel crash. The fix checks whether MSI-X is actually enabled before using the MSI-X-specific interrupt vector, falling back to a shared interrupt mask for the non-MSI-X case. The vulnerable path is reached during device initialization or interrupt re-enabling on systems with WangXun NGBE network hardware operating in non-MSI-X interrupt mode, which requires the specific hardware and typically a privileged configuration context.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.18 | 6.16 | 6.18.46 | cef4c5b9aca2 |
| 7.1 | 6.16 | 7.1.10 | 0ab482b2195e |
| mainline | 6.16 | 7.2 | 5f3a13e0bb5e |