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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published May 8, 2026 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated May 21, 2026

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

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

net/mlx5: Fix deadlock between devlink lock and esw->wq

esw->work_queue executes esw_functions_changed_event_handler ->
esw_vfs_changed_event_handler and acquires the devlink lock.

.eswitch_mode_set (acquires devlink lock in devlink_nl_pre_doit) ->
mlx5_devlink_eswitch_mode_set -> mlx5_eswitch_disable_locked ->
mlx5_eswitch_event_handler_unregister -> flush_workqueue deadlocks
when esw_vfs_changed_event_handler executes.

Fix that by no longer flushing the work to avoid the deadlock, and using
a generation counter to keep track of work relevance. This avoids an old
handler manipulating an esw that has undergone one or more mode changes:

  • the counter is incremented in mlx5_eswitch_event_handler_unregister.
  • the counter is read and passed to the ephemeral mlx5_host_work struct.
  • the work handler takes the devlink lock and bails out if the current
    generation is different than the one it was scheduled to operate on.
  • mlx5_eswitch_cleanup does the final draining before destroying the wq.

No longer flushing the workqueue has the side effect of maybe no longer
cancelling pending vport_change_handler work items, but that's ok since
those are disabled elsewhere:

  • mlx5_eswitch_disable_locked disables the vport eq notifier.
  • mlx5_esw_vport_disable disarms the HW EQ notification and marks
    vport->enabled under state_lock to false to prevent pending vport
    handler from doing anything.
  • mlx5_eswitch_cleanup destroys the workqueue and makes sure all events
    are disabled/finished.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database May 8, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 8, 2026
Last updated May 21, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(1st percentile)

Weaknesses

Improper Locking

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-43468

GHSA ID

GHSA-7gc8-cffq-4r9r

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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