CVE-2026-64162

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Intel Ethernet controller driver (idpf). This vulnerability occurs because a critical synchronization mechanism, known as a spinlock, is accessed before it has been properly initialized. An attacker could potentially exploit this timing issue to cause the system to become unstable or crash, leading to a Denial of Service (DoS).

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

If the Intel Ethernet PTP functionality is not required, the idpf kernel module can be blacklisted to prevent it from loading. This can be achieved by creating a modprobe configuration file.

1. Create a file named /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-idpf.conf with the following content:

   blacklist idpf
   install idpf /bin/true
   

2. Regenerate the initramfs to ensure the blacklist is applied during boot:
   • For systems using Dracut: dracut -f -v
   • For systems using mkinitcpio: mkinitcpio -P
3. Reboot the system for the changes to take effect.

This mitigation may impact systems that rely on Intel Ethernet PTP for time synchronization.