---
id: CVE-2026-43012
title: 'net/mlx5: Fix switchdev mode rollback in case of failure'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net/mlx5: Fix switchdev mode rollback in case of failure

  If for some internal reason switchdev mode fails, we rollback to legacy
  mode, before this patch, rollback will…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= de85624c623dbb5fdb3ae7b08b66894a072c0cc0 <
    2ebb13f3e8be0b61f72425b34cce60c8b6ad1891
  - >-
    Linux >= 2a4f56fbcc473d8faeb29b73082df39efbe5893c <
    e27153b2bd6e6699b544ac4dfa35d167bed5e642
  - >-
    Linux >= 2a4f56fbcc473d8faeb29b73082df39efbe5893c <
    4363698838b7ec6e8d85b179495889aa7e522f91
  - >-
    Linux >= 2a4f56fbcc473d8faeb29b73082df39efbe5893c <
    403186400a1a6166efe7031edc549c15fee4723f
  - Linux >= 6.12.9 < 6.12.81
  - Linux 6.13
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-06T15:25:48.044257Z'
published: '2026-05-01'
updated: '2026-11-06'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-06T15:32:26.009Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43012'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ebb13f3e8be0b61f72425b34cce60c8b6ad1891'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e27153b2bd6e6699b544ac4dfa35d167bed5e642'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4363698838b7ec6e8d85b179495889aa7e522f91'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/403186400a1a6166efe7031edc549c15fee4723f'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00122
epssPercentile: 0.01996
ingestedAt: '2026-11-06T15:54:04.037Z'
---

## Overview

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

net/mlx5: Fix switchdev mode rollback in case of failure

If for some internal reason switchdev mode fails, we rollback to legacy
mode, before this patch, rollback will unregister the uplink netdev and
leave it unregistered causing the below kernel bug.

To fix this, we need to avoid netdev unregister by setting the proper
rollback flag 'MLX5_PRIV_FLAGS_SWITCH_LEGACY' to indicate legacy mode.

devlink (431) used greatest stack depth: 11048 bytes left
mlx5_core 0000:00:03.0: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), \
	necvfs(0), active vports(0)
mlx5_core 0000:00:03.0: E-Switch: Supported tc chains and prios offload
mlx5_core 0000:00:03.0: Loading uplink representor for vport 65535
mlx5_core 0000:00:03.0: mlx5_cmd_out_err:816:(pid 456): \
	QUERY_HCA_CAP(0x100) op_mod(0x0) failed, \
	status bad parameter(0x3), syndrome (0x3a3846), err(-22)
mlx5_core 0000:00:03.0 enp0s3np0 (unregistered): Unloading uplink \
	representor for vport 65535
 ------------[ cut here ]------------
kernel BUG at net/core/dev.c:12070!
Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 456 Comm: devlink Not tainted 6.16.0-rc3+ \
	#9 PREEMPT(voluntary)
RIP: 0010:unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x123/0xae0
...
Call Trace:
[   90.923094]  unregister_netdevice_queue+0xad/0xf0
[   90.923323]  unregister_netdev+0x1c/0x40
[   90.923522]  mlx5e_vport_rep_unload+0x61/0xc6
[   90.923736]  esw_offloads_enable+0x8e6/0x920
[   90.923947]  mlx5_eswitch_enable_locked+0x349/0x430
[   90.924182]  ? is_mp_supported+0x57/0xb0
[   90.924376]  mlx5_devlink_eswitch_mode_set+0x167/0x350
[   90.924628]  devlink_nl_eswitch_set_doit+0x6f/0xf0
[   90.924862]  genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xe8/0x140
[   90.925088]  genl_rcv_msg+0x18b/0x290
[   90.925269]  ? __pfx_devlink_nl_pre_doit+0x10/0x10
[   90.925506]  ? __pfx_devlink_nl_eswitch_set_doit+0x10/0x10
[   90.925766]  ? __pfx_devlink_nl_post_doit+0x10/0x10
[   90.926001]  ? __pfx_genl_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10
[   90.926206]  netlink_rcv_skb+0x52/0x100
[   90.926393]  genl_rcv+0x28/0x40
[   90.926557]  netlink_unicast+0x27d/0x3d0
[   90.926749]  netlink_sendmsg+0x1f7/0x430
[   90.926942]  __sys_sendto+0x213/0x220
[   90.927127]  ? __sys_recvmsg+0x6a/0xd0
[   90.927312]  __x64_sys_sendto+0x24/0x30
[   90.927504]  do_syscall_64+0x50/0x1c0
[   90.927687]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
[   90.927929] RIP: 0033:0x7f7d0363e047

## Affected

- `Linux >= de85624c623dbb5fdb3ae7b08b66894a072c0cc0 < 2ebb13f3e8be0b61f72425b34cce60c8b6ad1891`
- `Linux >= 2a4f56fbcc473d8faeb29b73082df39efbe5893c < e27153b2bd6e6699b544ac4dfa35d167bed5e642`
- `Linux >= 2a4f56fbcc473d8faeb29b73082df39efbe5893c < 4363698838b7ec6e8d85b179495889aa7e522f91`
- `Linux >= 2a4f56fbcc473d8faeb29b73082df39efbe5893c < 403186400a1a6166efe7031edc549c15fee4723f`
- `Linux >= 6.12.9 < 6.12.81`
- `Linux 6.13`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.