CVE-2026-43173

/// Technical description

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

net: ethernet: xscale: Check for PTP support properly

In ixp4xx_get_ts_info() ixp46x_ptp_find() is called

unconditionally despite this feature only existing on

ixp46x, leading to the following splat from tcpdump:

root@OpenWrt:~# tcpdump -vv -X -i eth0

(...)

Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address

00000238 when read

(...)

Call trace:

ptp_clock_index from ixp46x_ptp_find+0x1c/0x38

ixp46x_ptp_find from ixp4xx_get_ts_info+0x4c/0x64

ixp4xx_get_ts_info from __ethtool_get_ts_info+0x90/0x108

__ethtool_get_ts_info from __dev_ethtool+0xa00/0x2648

__dev_ethtool from dev_ethtool+0x160/0x234

dev_ethtool from dev_ioctl+0x2cc/0x460

dev_ioctl from sock_ioctl+0x1ec/0x524

sock_ioctl from sys_ioctl+0x51c/0xa94

sys_ioctl from ret_fast_syscall+0x0/0x44

(...)

Segmentation fault

Check for ixp46x in ixp46x_ptp_find() before trying to set up

PTP to avoid this.

To avoid altering the returned error co

/// Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

/// References