---
id: CVE-2026-53337
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: bonding: fix NULL pointer dereference in bond_do_ioctl()

  In bond_do_ioctl(), slave_dev is obtained via __dev_get_by_name() which
  can return NULL if the requested …
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: bonding: fix NULL pointer dereference in bond_do_ioctl()

  In bond_do_ioctl(), slave_dev is obtained via __dev_get_by_name() which
  can return NULL if the requested …
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-476
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.3, < 5.10.259'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.210'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.176'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.143'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.94'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.36'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.0.13'
  - linux_kernel = 7.1
patched:
  - linux_kernel 7.0.13
published: '2026-07-01'
updated: '2026-10-15'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-15T02:20:09.250'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53337'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b7558c85493467b2ea20738866b822db6442034'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/66693957bacd1c9dae6188a7312d6be69a221f2d'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a629418d463fb50d132a1aa063b0105857311e5f'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a764b0e8317a863006e05732e1aefe821b9d8c2d'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b02b2e3e876c18733b868a29064abd11cdbf8feb'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b0878106ddc486375084145848ff255dedfff46a'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bcb8fad90f27300add583a8371db504b766d95c7'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2cfe290fdb1c32a4f4eb2b8ca3f363b305d21ba'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.0012
epssPercentile: 0.01724
ingestedAt: '2026-10-15T03:30:12.913Z'
---

## Overview

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

net: bonding: fix NULL pointer dereference in bond_do_ioctl()

In bond_do_ioctl(), slave_dev is obtained via __dev_get_by_name() which
can return NULL if the requested interface name does not exist. However,
the subsequent slave_dbg() call is placed before the NULL check:

    slave_dev = __dev_get_by_name(net, ifr->ifr_slave);
    slave_dbg(bond_dev, slave_dev, "slave_dev=%p:\n", slave_dev); //here
    if (!slave_dev)
        return -ENODEV;

The slave_dbg() macro expands to netdev_dbg(bond_dev, "(slave %s): " fmt,
(slave_dev)->name, ...) which unconditionally dereferences slave_dev->name
before the NULL check is performed. This results in a NULL pointer
dereference kernel oops when a user calls bonding ioctl (e.g.
SIOCBONDENSLAVE, SIOCBONDRELEASE, etc.) with a non-existent slave
interface name.

This is reachable from userspace via the bonding ioctl interface with
CAP_NET_ADMIN capability, making it a potential local denial-of-service
vector.

Fix by moving the slave_dbg() call after the NULL check.

## Affected

- `linux_kernel >= 5.3, < 5.10.259`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.210`
- `linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.176`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.143`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.94`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.36`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 7.0.13`
- `linux_kernel = 7.1`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 7.0.13`