published September 25, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/mlx5: E-Switch, prevent mc_list repopulation during vport disable
In mlx5_esw_vport_disable(), move esw_apply_vport_rx_mode() ahead
of esw_vport_change_handle_locked() so vport->allmulti_rule is
NULL before the change handler observes it.
During FW-fatal recovery the disable runs while dev->state ==
INTERNAL_ERROR. The promisc query inside esw_update_vport_rx_mode()
fails and returns early, leaving vport->allmulti_rule intact, so
esw_update_vport_mc_promisc() runs and adds MLX5_ACTION_ADD entries
to vport->mc_list whose flow rules are then installed in the FDB
by esw_add_mc_addr(). esw_destroy_legacy_table() tears down the
FDB with those refs still held, corrupting the sub-tree and
leaving dangling flow_rule pointers in vport->mc_list.
Two-stage failure on `echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/<bdf>/reset`:
refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.
tree_put_node+0xef/0x110 [mlx5_core]
clean_tree+0x44/0xd0 [mlx5_core] (x5)
mlx5_fs_core_cleanup+0x57/0x1c0 [mlx5_core]
mlx5_unload+0x65/0xd0 [mlx5_core]
... mlx5_health_try_recover
BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000003000055
down_write+0x1c/0x60
mlx5_del_flow_rules+0x33/0x1f0 [mlx5_core]
esw_del_mc_addr+0x7b/0x170 [mlx5_core]
esw_apply_vport_addr_list+0x56/0xf0 [mlx5_core]
esw_vport_change_handle_locked+0x28b/0x310 [mlx5_core]
mlx5_esw_vport_enable+0x270/0x4a0 [mlx5_core]
... mlx5_load ... mlx5_health_try_recover
esw_apply_vport_rx_mode(false, false) clears vport->allmulti_rule
via its local state machine even when the FW del fails. With the
rule NULL the !IS_ERR_OR_NULL(allmulti_rule) gate in the change
handler closes, no rules are installed during disable, and the
reload starts with a clean mc_list.