CVE-2026-72342
Race in mlx5e driver causing NULL-deref and kernel crash (DoS).
Is CVE-2026-72342 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-72342 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.19% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-72342?
CVE-2026-72342 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.4. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-72342?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-72342. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-72342 affect?
CVE-2026-72342 affects Linux kernel (net/mlx5e), Mellanox/ConnectX NICs, Virtualized hosts using HV VHCA. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-72342?
Install vendor/upstream mlx5e kernel patch and reboot; unload/disable mlx5e/HV VHCA if unable to patch immediately.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Hypervisor/guest-triggered race can cause NULL function pointer/timer corruption and kernel panic or host denial-of-service.
Patch when possible
- affected>= cef35af34d6dc3792333075115c7deb7062b6e18 and < b0fd6d3bb06182f19f3b59a53f57b5098b99048a
- affected>= cef35af34d6dc3792333075115c7deb7062b6e18 and < 24c77044cdfcf5b8b2e9f3b620d8b9aa392d9add
- affected>= cef35af34d6dc3792333075115c7deb7062b6e18 and < e8fc3304cb67fb1d7d11ff9ef9abd5fb64e7e1d5
- affected>= cef35af34d6dc3792333075115c7deb7062b6e18 and < 60fddda7207d81fea71463abd403f0b10f74f2e1
- affected>= cef35af34d6dc3792333075115c7deb7062b6e18 and < f5677797b094c3ec5fb350eb8ea7710b88a3d018
- affected>= cef35af34d6dc3792333075115c7deb7062b6e18 and < 89b25b5f46f488ea3b29b3444864c76944c9075b
- affected5.4
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.