* [CVE-2026-98619][LOW] net: ethtool: keep rtnl_lock for the ioctl self test [ Upstream
@ 2026-10-24 16:36 21% AL-KERNEL
0 siblings, 0 replies; 1+ results
From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-10-24 16:36 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-98619
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: net: ethtool: keep rtnl_lock for the ioctl self test [ Upstream
Commit: 4ca1503491f1f25a954c13ac5775bf6775c5abc8
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=4ca1503491f1f25a954c13ac5775bf6775c5abc8
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98619
Analysis date: Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:36:26 -0400
ActionableScore: 1
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate
Manual review required: NO
Summary:
A privileged or delegated local ethtool offline self-test can reconfigure certain NICs without required RTNL locking, producing deterministic locking assertions and possible temporary interface disruption.
======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98619 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98619
The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.
The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.
Published priority for this report: LOW
Manual review required: NO
A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.
======================================================================
AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
======================================================================
CVE-2026-98619 LOW https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-98619 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN MODERATE | AEGIS IMPACT MODERATE AEGIS_AS=0 LEGACY=LOW RESULT=DIFF (final Legacy and Aegis differ; FINAL: LOW, Aegis: MODERATE) Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';CWE-362;CWE-667;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '4.7';DESCR 'The ETHTOOL_TEST ioctl could run an offline self test on an ops locked bnxt or fbnic device lacking rtnl_lock. The self test closes and reopens the interface while holding only the device instance lock, so concurrent network configuration may observe unsafe device state and cause temporary interface failure or a more extensive availability loss. The demonstrated result is a lockdep or ASSERT_RTNL warning rather than a proven kernel crash, UAF, OOB access, information leak, or write primitive. For the CVSS the PR:L value reflects that a local process needs authorization to invoke the offline self test, while AC:H reflects the concurrent operation and timing needed for a security relevant failure. This is not directly network reachable. Automated impact decision path. The original SimpleNet classifier selected MODERATE_KPANIC. The primary LLM estimated paranoid CVSS 4.7 and the production ActionableScore returned 1 with recommendation Ordinary Moderate. The production rules then evaluated CVSS thresholds and ActionableScore thresholds. Recorded rule transitions were CVSS and initial triage stage MODERATE_KPANIC to MODERATE because the CVSS score, vector or bug class threshold rule was applied. ActionableScore thresholds stage MODERATE to LOW because the ActionableScore threshold rule was applied. final reconciliation stage LOW to LOW because KP specialist did not establish a qualifying panic and the cross model evidence reconciliation rule was applied. The legacy KP specialist has no review artifact for this run. The legacy FD or DH downgrade specialist has no review artifact for this run. Exact triggered rule markers were DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS_AND_CIANNH and DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3 and KPANIC_UNSUPPORTED_REMOVED and V64_AEGIS_UNSUPPORTED_PROMOTION_BLOCKED. The independent weaker Aegis shadow evaluated CVSS 0.0 and ActionableScore 0 with primitive class CLASS_C and manual review REQUIRED. Its independently reconciled impact was MODERATE. The models disagreed but the aggregation rules retained the production result. The final reported impact is LOW.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate (with actual score 1) MAYBE REMOTE NETWORK HARDWARE LINUS TEST DECREASED_TO_MODERATE_REGULAR_FROM_MODERATE7_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS_AND_CIANNH DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3 KPANIC_UNSUPPORTED_REMOVED V64_AEGIS_UNSUPPORTED_PROMOTION_BLOCKED - - checked
======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================
ActionableScore=1
PrimitiveClass=CLASS_C
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=UNKNOWN
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
RequiresHostUID0=UNKNOWN
AuthorizationDecisionBypass=NO
ProtectedResourceImpact=NONE
B4PendingReview=NO
B4PendingConfirmed=NO
1. ActionableScore
* Raw base score: 1.
* Conservative score: 1; no floor or cap applied.
* Raw paranoid score: 1.
* Paranoid score: 1; stronger consequences are not technically established.
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate**::
2. Signal breakdown
* +1 Availability plausible: an offline self-test closes and reopens the device without required RTNL serialization, plausibly causing temporary interface disruption or unsafe concurrent reconfiguration.
* +0 WARN/ASSERT: lockdep warning and ASSERT_RTNL are demonstrated, but neither proves a kernel crash, panic, or strong host-wide DoS.
* No race penalty: a security-relevant concurrent operation may be needed for impact beyond the warning, but narrow or unreliable timing is not proven.
* No corruption bonus: no UAF, OOB access, write primitive, stale object, or damaged structured state is shown.
* No authorization score: the patch restores locking, not an access-control DENY-to-ALLOW decision.
* No confidentiality, integrity, remote-reachability, or extra availability points.
3. Reachability analysis
The reachable entry is the local legacy `ETHTOOL_TEST` ioctl on an ops-locked bnxt or fbnic device. Some authorization to operate the relevant network device is indicated, but the supplied evidence does not establish whether the complete operation requires host CAP_NET_ADMIN, a namespace-scoped capability, delegated device management, or UID 0. Consequently, both host-admin and namespace scope remain unknown. Applicable hardware and an offline self-test are required. The locking warning is deterministic per the commit; consequential concurrent reconfiguration is plausible but not shown to produce a repeatable crash.
4. Primitive and severity reading
The exact defect is missing RTNL serialization around active device close/open operations. This is synchronization/invalid-state behavior, classified CLASS_C. The shown result is a lockdep or assertion warning; temporary device availability loss is plausible. No active-state corruption consumer, memory-corruption primitive, protected-resource impact, or cross-boundary effect is demonstrated. ImportantCandidate is therefore NO, and automatic Moderate handling is permissible.
5. One-sentence report phrase
A privileged or delegated local ethtool offline self-test can reconfigure certain NICs without required RTNL locking, producing deterministic locking assertions and possible temporary interface disruption.
6. Manual review advice
NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED
The patch supports a locking/availability defect but no material corruption or authorization primitive.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: high
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: net: ethtool: keep rtnl_lock for the ioctl self test [ Upstream
Commit: 4ca1503491f1f25a954c13ac5775bf6775c5abc8
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=4ca1503491f1f25a954c13ac5775bf6775c5abc8
Changed files:
net/core/netpoll.c
drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ethtool.c
drivers/net/ethernet/meta/fbnic/fbnic_ethtool.c
include/linux/ethtool.h
net/ethtool/common.h
Diff excerpt:
Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.
Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=4ca1503491f1f25a954c13ac5775bf6775c5abc8
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-98619 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-98619
The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.
The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.
The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.
Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:
Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.7
The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.
CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.
A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.
Conservative ActionableScore: unknown
Paranoid ActionableScore: 1
The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.
For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:
ActionableScore below 5 -> MODERATE REGULAR
ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0
The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.
There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).
KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.
AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: LOW
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW
These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).
Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is [email protected] (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).
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