published September 25, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: macb: destroy the phylink instance on the probe error path
macb_mii_init() creates a phylink instance on both of its success paths,
but the probe unwind frees the netdev without destroying it, so a failing
macb_alloc_tieoff() or register_netdev() leaks the instance.
Destroy it at err_out_unregister_mdio, which is only reachable once
macb_mii_init() has succeeded, so bp->phylink is valid there.