---
id: CVE-2026-53231
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: phy: don't try to setup PHY-driven SFP cages when using genphy

  We don't have support for PHY-driver SFP cages with the genphy code.

  On top of that, it was found …
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: phy: don't try to setup PHY-driven SFP cages when using genphy

  We don't have support for PHY-driver SFP cages with the genphy code.

  On top of that, it was found …
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-667
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - 'linux_kernel >= 7.0, < 7.0.13'
  - linux_kernel = 7.1
patched:
  - linux_kernel 7.0.13
published: '2026-06-25'
updated: '2026-07-02'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53231'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a0082ec20a05ef2378410323a5089a8f1786f4a'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ef8d739eee6f85303cbecebc01eb72f063de74e0'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00111
epssPercentile: 0.0148
ingestedAt: '2026-07-03T13:02:28.078Z'
---

## Overview

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

net: phy: don't try to setup PHY-driven SFP cages when using genphy

We don't have support for PHY-driver SFP cages with the genphy code.

On top of that, it was found by sashiko that running
sfp_bus_add_upstream() for genphy deadlocks, as for genphy the PHY
probing runs under RTNL, which isn't the case for non-genphy drivers.

This problem was reproduced, and does lead to a deadlock on RTNL.

Before the blamed commit, the phy_sfp_probe() call was made by
individual PHY drivers, so there was no way to get to the SFP probing
path when using genphy.

Let's therefore only run phy_sfp_probe when not using genphy.

## Affected

- `linux_kernel >= 7.0, < 7.0.13`
- `linux_kernel = 7.1`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 7.0.13`