In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ibm: emac: Fix use...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: ibm: emac: Fix use-after-free during device removal

The driver was using devm_register_netdev() which causes unregister_netdev()
to be deferred until the devres cleanup phase, which runs after emac_remove()
returns. This creates a use-after-free window where:

  1. emac_remove() is called, which tears down hardware (cancels work, detaches
    modules, unregisters from MAL)
  2. emac_remove() returns
  3. devres cleanup runs and finally calls unregister_netdev()

During step 3, the network stack might still process packets, triggering
emac_irq(), emac_poll(), or other handlers that access now-freed hardware
resources (dev->emacp, dev->mal, etc.).

Fix this by replacing devm_register_netdev() with manual register_netdev()
and calling unregister_netdev() at the beginning of emac_remove(), before
any hardware teardown. This ensures the network device is fully stopped and
unregistered before hardware resources are released.

The change is safe because:
- dev->ndev is assigned very early in probe (before any error paths that
could bypass emac_remove)
- platform_set_drvdata() is only called after successful registration, so
emac_remove() only runs for fully registered devices
- unregister_netdev() is idempotent and safe to call on any registered device

Basic information

Type
unreviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2026-06-25 09:31:22 UTC
Updated
2026-07-08 21:31:26 UTC
NVD published
2026-06-25

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.13% 3.09%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
7.8 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-416 Use After Free

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence