CVE-2026-43467
Received Received - Intake
Kernel crash in switchdev mode for Mellanox mlx5 driver

Publication date: 2026-05-08

Last updated on: 2026-05-08

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5: Fix crash when moving to switchdev mode When moving to switchdev mode when the device doesn't support IPsec, we try to clean up the IPsec resources anyway which causes the crash below, fix that by correctly checking for IPsec support before trying to clean up its resources. [27642.515799] WARNING: arch/x86/mm/fault.c:1276 at do_user_addr_fault+0x18a/0x680, CPU#4: devlink/6490 [27642.517159] Modules linked in: xt_conntrack xt_MASQUERADE ip6table_nat ip6table_filter ip6_tables iptable_nat nf_nat xt_addrtype rpcsec_gss_krb5 auth_rpcgss oid_registry overlay mlx5_fwctl nfnetlink zram zsmalloc mlx5_ib fuse rpcrdma rdma_ucm ib_uverbs ib_iser libiscsi scsi_transport_iscsi ib_umad rdma_cm ib_ipoib iw_cm ib_cm mlx5_core ib_core [27642.521358] CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 6490 Comm: devlink Not tainted 6.19.0-rc5_for_upstream_min_debug_2026_01_14_16_47 #1 NONE [27642.522923] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [27642.524528] RIP: 0010:do_user_addr_fault+0x18a/0x680 [27642.525362] Code: ff 0f 84 75 03 00 00 48 89 ee 4c 89 e7 e8 5e b9 22 00 49 89 c0 48 85 c0 0f 84 a8 02 00 00 f7 c3 60 80 00 00 74 22 31 c9 eb ae <0f> 0b 48 83 c4 10 48 89 ea 48 89 de 4c 89 f7 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 [27642.528166] RSP: 0018:ffff88810770f6b8 EFLAGS: 00010046 [27642.529038] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000002 RCX: ffff88810b980f00 [27642.530158] RDX: 00000000000000a0 RSI: 0000000000000002 RDI: ffff88810770f728 [27642.531270] RBP: 00000000000000a0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [27642.532383] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888103f3c4c0 [27642.533499] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff88810770f728 R15: 0000000000000000 [27642.534614] FS: 00007f197c741740(0000) GS:ffff88856a94c000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [27642.535915] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [27642.536858] CR2: 00000000000000a0 CR3: 000000011334c003 CR4: 0000000000172eb0 [27642.537982] Call Trace: [27642.538466] <TASK> [27642.538907] exc_page_fault+0x76/0x140 [27642.539583] asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 [27642.540282] RIP: 0010:_raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x30 [27642.541134] Code: 07 85 c0 75 11 ba ff 00 00 00 f0 0f b1 17 75 06 b8 01 00 00 00 c3 31 c0 c3 90 0f 1f 44 00 00 53 9c 5b fa 31 c0 ba 01 00 00 00 <f0> 0f b1 17 75 05 48 89 d8 5b c3 89 c6 e8 7e 02 00 00 48 89 d8 5b [27642.543936] RSP: 0018:ffff88810770f7d8 EFLAGS: 00010046 [27642.544803] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000202 RCX: ffff888113ad96d8 [27642.545916] RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: ffff88810770f818 RDI: 00000000000000a0 [27642.547027] RBP: 0000000000000098 R08: 0000000000000400 R09: ffff88810b980f00 [27642.548140] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: ffff888101845a80 R12: 00000000000000a8 [27642.549263] R13: ffffffffa02a9060 R14: 00000000000000a0 R15: ffff8881130d8a40 [27642.550379] complete_all+0x20/0x90 [27642.551010] mlx5e_ipsec_disable_events+0xb6/0xf0 [mlx5_core] [27642.552022] mlx5e_nic_disable+0x12d/0x220 [mlx5_core] [27642.552929] mlx5e_detach_netdev+0x66/0xf0 [mlx5_core] [27642.553822] mlx5e_netdev_change_profile+0x5b/0x120 [mlx5_core] [27642.554821] mlx5e_vport_rep_load+0x419/0x590 [mlx5_core] [27642.555757] ? xa_load+0x53/0x90 [27642.556361] __esw_offloads_load_rep+0x54/0x70 [mlx5_core] [27642.557328] mlx5_esw_offloads_rep_load+0x45/0xd0 [mlx5_core] [27642.558320] esw_offloads_enable+0xb4b/0xc90 [mlx5_core] [27642.559247] mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked+0x34e/0x4f0 [mlx5_core] [27642.560257] ? mlx5_rescan_drivers_locked+0x222/0x2d0 [mlx5_core] [27642.561284] mlx5_devlink_eswitch_mode_set+0x5ac/0x9c0 [mlx5_core] [27642.562334] ? devlink_rate_set_ops_supported+0x21/0x3a0 [27642.563220] devlink_nl_eswitch_set_doit+0x67/0xe0 [27642.564026] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xe0/0x130 [27642.564816] genl_rcv_msg+0x183/0x290 [27642.565466] ? __devlink_nl_pre_doit.isra.0+0x160/0x160 [27642.566329] ? d ---truncated---
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Meta Information
Published
2026-05-08
Last Modified
2026-05-08
Generated
2026-05-09
AI Q&A
2026-05-08
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-43467
EUVD
EUVD-2026-28773
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
mlx5 mlx5_core *
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

This vulnerability occurs in the Linux kernel's mlx5 network driver when switching to switchdev mode on a device that does not support IPsec.

The issue arises because the driver attempts to clean up IPsec resources even if the device lacks IPsec support, which leads to a crash.

The fix involves adding a proper check for IPsec support before attempting to clean up those resources, preventing the crash.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

If you use the affected Linux kernel with mlx5 devices and switch to switchdev mode on devices without IPsec support, this vulnerability can cause the kernel to crash.

Such crashes can lead to system instability, potential downtime, and disruption of network services relying on the mlx5 driver.


How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?

This vulnerability causes a crash in the Linux kernel when moving to switchdev mode on devices that do not support IPsec. Detection can be done by monitoring kernel logs for crash messages related to mlx5 and switchdev mode transitions.

You can check the kernel logs for warning or error messages similar to the following pattern which indicates the crash:

  • dmesg | grep -i 'mlx5e_ipsec_disable_events'
  • dmesg | grep -i 'devlink'
  • journalctl -k | grep -i 'mlx5_core'

Additionally, monitoring for kernel oops or panic messages related to mlx5 or switchdev mode changes can help detect this issue.


What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?

The vulnerability is fixed by correctly checking for IPsec support before cleaning up IPsec resources when moving to switchdev mode. Immediate mitigation steps include:

  • Update the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix for this vulnerability.
  • Avoid switching to switchdev mode on devices that do not support IPsec until the fix is applied.
  • Monitor kernel logs for crash symptoms and avoid operations that trigger the crash.

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