CVE-2026-53231 | net: phy: don't try to setup PHY-driven SFP cages when using genphy

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phy: don't try to setup PHY-driven SFP cages when using genphy We don't have support for PHY-driver SFP cages with the genphy code. On top of that, it was found by sashiko that running sfp_bus_add_upstream() for genphy deadlocks, as for genphy the PHY probing runs under RTNL, which isn't the case for non-genphy drivers. This problem was reproduced, and does lead to a deadlock on RTNL. Before the blamed commit, the phy_sfp_probe() call was made by individual PHY drivers, so there was no way to get to the SFP probing path when using genphy. Let's therefore only run phy_sfp_probe when not using genphy.

Published: 2026-06-25 Last update: 2026-07-02 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-53231 is rated Low Risk (22.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.09%). 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-2026-53231

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 2026-07-03 0.16% 0.09% -0.07%
2 2026-06-25 — 0.16% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-53231

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-2026-53231

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-53231

GHSA-cmgx-qw5m-5j29 · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phy: don't try to setup...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-53231

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-53231 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-53231
suse medium CVE-2026-53231 severity moderate: SUSE including 21 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 199 product×package rows across 40 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, … (40 product lines)): Known Not Affected 199. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-53231/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-53231 medium priority: Ubuntu including 162 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1458 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1051, ignored 172, not-affected 131, released 88, needed 16. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-53231

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-53231

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 7.0, < 7.0.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-53231

cvelogic Threat Intelligence