CVE-2026-63997: ethtool: module: avoid leaking a netdev ref on module flash errors

CVE-2026-63997: ethtool: module: avoid leaking a netdev ref on module flash errors

[Greg Kroah-Hartman]

From: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@kernel.org>

Description
===========

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

ethtool: module: avoid leaking a netdev ref on module flash errors

module_flash_fw_schedule() is missing undo for setting
the "in_progress" flag and taking the netdev reference.
Delay taking these, the device can't disappear while
we are holding rtnl_lock.

The Linux kernel CVE team has assigned CVE-2026-63997 to this issue.


Affected and fixed versions
===========================

	Issue introduced in 6.11 with commit 32b4c8b53ee7799e34a2b1634d32d3ce1e36c44e and fixed in 6.12.93 with commit f7b4513e77f9571dc1041a798b93b5c4a4bfc191
	Issue introduced in 6.11 with commit 32b4c8b53ee7799e34a2b1634d32d3ce1e36c44e and fixed in 6.18.35 with commit 61848c83b9132ab839809fe415ba7802a0aca4f6
	Issue introduced in 6.11 with commit 32b4c8b53ee7799e34a2b1634d32d3ce1e36c44e and fixed in 7.0.12 with commit 956b134d917fd7e014dc7e39a9b7610c04fcc9ba
	Issue introduced in 6.11 with commit 32b4c8b53ee7799e34a2b1634d32d3ce1e36c44e and fixed in 7.1 with commit fb7f511d62692661846c47f199e0afe25c2982db

Please see https://www.kernel.org for a full list of currently supported
kernel versions by the kernel community.

Unaffected versions might change over time as fixes are backported to
older supported kernel versions.  The official CVE entry at
	https://cve.org/CVERecord/?id=CVE-2026-63997
will be updated if fixes are backported, please check that for the most
up to date information about this issue.


Affected files
==============

The file(s) affected by this issue are:
	net/ethtool/module.c


Mitigation
==========

The Linux kernel CVE team recommends that you update to the latest
stable kernel version for this, and many other bugfixes.  Individual
changes are never tested alone, but rather are part of a larger kernel
release.  Cherry-picking individual commits is not recommended or
supported by the Linux kernel community at all.  If however, updating to
the latest release is impossible, the individual changes to resolve this
issue can be found at these commits:
	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7b4513e77f9571dc1041a798b93b5c4a4bfc191
	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61848c83b9132ab839809fe415ba7802a0aca4f6
	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/956b134d917fd7e014dc7e39a9b7610c04fcc9ba
	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb7f511d62692661846c47f199e0afe25c2982db