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

team: avoid NETDEV_CHANGEMTU event when unregistering slave

syzbot is reporting

unregister_netdevice: waiting for netdevsim0 to become free. Usage count = 3
ref_tracker: netdev@ffff88807dcf8618 has 1/2 users at
__netdev_tracker_alloc include/linux/netdevice.h:4400 [inline]
netdev_hold include/linux/netdevice.h:4429 [inline]
inetdev_init+0x201/0x4e0 net/ipv4/devinet.c:286
inetdev_event+0x251/0x1610 net/ipv4/devinet.c:1600
notifier_call_chain+0x19d/0x3a0 kernel/notifier.c:85
call_netdevice_notifiers_mtu net/core/dev.c:2318 [inline]
netif_set_mtu_ext+0x5aa/0x800 net/core/dev.c:9886
netif_set_mtu+0xd7/0x1b0 net/core/dev.c:9907
dev_set_mtu+0x126/0x260 net/core/dev_api.c:248
team_port_del+0xb07/0xcb0 drivers/net/team/team_core.c:1333
team_del_slave drivers/net/team/team_core.c:1936 [inline]
team_device_event+0x207/0x5b0 drivers/net/team/team_core.c:2929
notifier_call_chain+0x19d/0x3a0 kernel/notifier.c:85
call_netdevice_notifiers_extack net/core/dev.c:2281 [inline]
call_netdevice_notifiers net/core/dev.c:2295 [inline]
__dev_change_net_namespace+0xcb7/0x2050 net/core/dev.c:12592
do_setlink+0x2ce/0x4590 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3060
rtnl_changelink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3776 [inline]
__rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3935 [inline]
rtnl_newlink+0x15a9/0x1be0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4072
rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x7d5/0xbe0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6958
netlink_rcv_skb+0x232/0x4b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550
netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1318 [inline]
netlink_unicast+0x80f/0x9b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344
netlink_sendmsg+0x813/0xb40 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894

problem. Ido Schimmel found steps to reproduce

ip link add name team1 type team
ip link add name dummy1 mtu 1499 master team1 type dummy
ip netns add ns1
ip link set dev dummy1 netns ns1
ip -n ns1 link del dev dummy1

and also found that the same issue was fixed in the bond driver in
commit f51048c3e07b ("bonding: avoid NETDEV_CHANGEMTU event when
unregistering slave").

Let's do similar thing for the team driver, with commit ad7c7b2172c3 ("net:
hold netdev instance lock during sysfs operations") and commit 303a8487a657
("net: s/__dev_set_mtu/__netif_set_mtu/") also applied.
Published: 2026-05-06
Score: 5.5 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Impact

The team driver incorrectly triggers a NETDEV_CHANGEMTU event while an enslaved device is being unregistered. This mismanagement of reference counts can cause the kernel to hang or crash when removing a slave interface, as demonstrated by the steps that delete a dummy device from a network namespace. The bug is indicative of a use‑after‑free or race condition (CWE-821, NVD-CWE-noinfo), enabling a local user to force a kernel panic and disrupt system availability.

Affected Systems

Systems running a Linux kernel that includes the team network driver and have not incorporated the patches associated with commits ad7c7b2172c3 and 303a8487a657 are vulnerable. The issue is present whenever a slave device is removed from a team, particularly when the device resides in a separate network namespace.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 5.5 indicates moderate severity; EPSS score is below 1%, indicating a very low probability of remote exploitation. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, but the potential for a local kernel crash suggests a moderate likelihood of severe impact. Based on the description, it is inferred that the likely attack vector is local with sufficient privileges to manipulate network interfaces, requiring no special user input beyond normal device management commands.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on May 12, 2026 at 22:15 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Update the Linux kernel to a patched release that includes commits ad7c7b2172c3 and 303a8487a657, or apply backported fixes provided by the distribution vendor.
  • If a kernel update is not yet available, temporarily disable the Team driver or avoid deleting slave devices from network namespaces until the patch is applied.
  • Continuously monitor kernel logs for warnings related to NETDEV_CHANGEMTU or deadlocks during device removal.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on May 12, 2026 at 22:15 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Tue, 12 May 2026 19:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses NVD-CWE-noinfo
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

Thu, 07 May 2026 04:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-416
CWE-768

Thu, 07 May 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-821
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Wed, 06 May 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-416
CWE-768

Wed, 06 May 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: team: avoid NETDEV_CHANGEMTU event when unregistering slave syzbot is reporting unregister_netdevice: waiting for netdevsim0 to become free. Usage count = 3 ref_tracker: netdev@ffff88807dcf8618 has 1/2 users at __netdev_tracker_alloc include/linux/netdevice.h:4400 [inline] netdev_hold include/linux/netdevice.h:4429 [inline] inetdev_init+0x201/0x4e0 net/ipv4/devinet.c:286 inetdev_event+0x251/0x1610 net/ipv4/devinet.c:1600 notifier_call_chain+0x19d/0x3a0 kernel/notifier.c:85 call_netdevice_notifiers_mtu net/core/dev.c:2318 [inline] netif_set_mtu_ext+0x5aa/0x800 net/core/dev.c:9886 netif_set_mtu+0xd7/0x1b0 net/core/dev.c:9907 dev_set_mtu+0x126/0x260 net/core/dev_api.c:248 team_port_del+0xb07/0xcb0 drivers/net/team/team_core.c:1333 team_del_slave drivers/net/team/team_core.c:1936 [inline] team_device_event+0x207/0x5b0 drivers/net/team/team_core.c:2929 notifier_call_chain+0x19d/0x3a0 kernel/notifier.c:85 call_netdevice_notifiers_extack net/core/dev.c:2281 [inline] call_netdevice_notifiers net/core/dev.c:2295 [inline] __dev_change_net_namespace+0xcb7/0x2050 net/core/dev.c:12592 do_setlink+0x2ce/0x4590 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3060 rtnl_changelink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3776 [inline] __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3935 [inline] rtnl_newlink+0x15a9/0x1be0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4072 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x7d5/0xbe0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6958 netlink_rcv_skb+0x232/0x4b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1318 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x80f/0x9b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344 netlink_sendmsg+0x813/0xb40 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894 problem. Ido Schimmel found steps to reproduce ip link add name team1 type team ip link add name dummy1 mtu 1499 master team1 type dummy ip netns add ns1 ip link set dev dummy1 netns ns1 ip -n ns1 link del dev dummy1 and also found that the same issue was fixed in the bond driver in commit f51048c3e07b ("bonding: avoid NETDEV_CHANGEMTU event when unregistering slave"). Let's do similar thing for the team driver, with commit ad7c7b2172c3 ("net: hold netdev instance lock during sysfs operations") and commit 303a8487a657 ("net: s/__dev_set_mtu/__netif_set_mtu/") also applied.
Title team: avoid NETDEV_CHANGEMTU event when unregistering slave
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-11T22:20:35.930Z

Reserved: 2026-05-01T14:12:55.995Z

Link: CVE-2026-43234

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-05-06T12:16:43.570

Modified: 2026-05-12T19:02:56.147

Link: CVE-2026-43234

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-05-06T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-43234 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-12T22:30:05Z

Weaknesses