CVE-2026-43173 | net: ethernet: xscale: Check for PTP support properly

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ethernet: xscale: Check for PTP support properly In ixp4xx_get_ts_info() ixp46x_ptp_find() is called unconditionally despite this feature only existing on ixp46x, leading to the following splat from tcpdump: root@OpenWrt:~# tcpdump -vv -X -i eth0 (...) Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000238 when read (...) Call trace: ptp_clock_index from ixp46x_ptp_find+0x1c/0x38 ixp46x_ptp_find from ixp4xx_get_ts_info+0x4c/0x64 ixp4xx_get_ts_info from __ethtool_get_ts_info+0x90/0x108 __ethtool_get_ts_info from __dev_ethtool+0xa00/0x2648 __dev_ethtool from dev_ethtool+0x160/0x234 dev_ethtool from dev_ioctl+0x2cc/0x460 dev_ioctl from sock_ioctl+0x1ec/0x524 sock_ioctl from sys_ioctl+0x51c/0xa94 sys_ioctl from ret_fast_syscall+0x0/0x44 (...) Segmentation fault Check for ixp46x in ixp46x_ptp_find() before trying to set up PTP to avoid this. To avoid altering the returned error code from ixp4xx_hwtstamp_set() which before this patch was -EOPNOTSUPP, we return -EOPNOTSUPP from ixp4xx_hwtstamp_set() if ixp46x_ptp_find() fails no matter the error code. The helper function ixp46x_ptp_find() helper returns -ENODEV.

Published: 2026-05-06 Last update: 2026-06-01 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-43173 is rated Low Risk (24.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-43173

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-07 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-43173

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-43173

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-43173

GHSA-f26q-jhc2-x3h8 · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ethernet: xscale: Check...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-43173

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-43173 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-43173
redhat — — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43173
suse — — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43173/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-43173 medium priority: Ubuntu including 161 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1449 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1048, ignored 169, needed 88, released 83, not-affected 55, needs-triage 5, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-43173

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-43173

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.15, < 5.15.202 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.165 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.128 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.75 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-43173

cvelogic Threat Intelligence