drivers/net/fjes/fjes_main.c in the Linux kernel 5.2.14 does not check the alloc_workqueue return value, leading to a NULL pointer derefere…

published 2019-09-11 7y ago modified 2026-06-17 4mo ago also EUVD-2019-7038

cvss: 4.1; version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.4%; EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 36%
public exploits: 0; none known

drivers/net/fjes/fjes_main.c in the Linux kernel 5.2.14 does not check the alloc_workqueue return value, leading to a NULL pointer dereference.

Patch / fix

distros 4 links 1

ubuntu red hat suse opensuse

linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-208.240
linux Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-74.84
linux-aws Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1126.140
linux-aws Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-1057.59
linux-gcp Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.15.0-1052.56
linux-gcp Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 5.0.0-1028.29~18.04.1
linux-hwe Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.15.0-74.83~16.04.1
linux-hwe Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 5.3.0-26.28~18.04.1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2019-16231

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

kernel RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8
perf RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8
bpftool RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8
kernel-core RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8
kernel-tools RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8
python3-perf RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8
kernel-modules RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8
kernel-zfcpdump RHEL 8 4.18.0-240.el8

red hat advisories RHSA-2020:4431 RHSA-2020:4060 RHSA-2020:4609 RHSA-2020:4062

kernel-azure SLES for SAP 12 SP5, SLES 12 SP5 4.12.14-16.7.1
kernel-syms-azure SLES for SAP 12 SP5, SLES 12 SP5 4.12.14-16.7.1
kernel-source-azure SLES for SAP 12 SP5, SLES 12 SP5 4.12.14-16.7.1
kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 4.12.14-150.47.1
kernel-source SLE Module for Development Tools 15, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 4.12.14-150.47.1
kernel-default SLE Workstation Extension 15, SLE Module for Legacy 15, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 +2 more 4.12.14-150.47.1
kernel-vanilla SLE Module for Development Tools 15 4.12.14-150.47.1
kernel-zfcpdump SLE Module for Basesystem 15 4.12.14-150.47.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2020:0093-1 SUSE-SU-2019:3381-1 SUSE-SU-2019:3379-1 SUSE-SU-2019:3372-1 SUSE-SU-2019:3371-1 SUSE-SU-2019:3317-1

kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 5.14.6-1.4
kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 6.6.17-1.1
kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 15.1 4.12.14-lp151.28.32.1
kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 15.1 4.12.14-lp151.28.32.1
kernel-source openSUSE Leap 15.1 4.12.14-lp151.28.32.1
kernel-default openSUSE Leap 15.1 4.12.14-lp151.28.32.1
kernel-vanilla openSUSE Leap 15.1 4.12.14-lp151.28.32.1
kernel-kvmsmall openSUSE Leap 15.1 4.12.14-lp151.28.32.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10728-1 openSUSE-SU-2024:13704-1 openSUSE-SU-2019:2507-1 openSUSE-SU-2019:2503-1

lkml.org/lkml/2019/9/9/487 advisory

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Vendor advisories

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red hat product security vex CVE-2019-16231 updated 2026-11-07 cvss 4.1

kernel: null-pointer dereference in drivers/net/fjes/fjes_main.c

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, kernel-alt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-tools, +3 more
affected: workaround, no fix available “Fix deferred”
Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 kernel
affected: workaround, no fix planned “Will not fix”
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 4.18.0-240.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 4.18.0-240.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 4.18.0-240.el8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) perf 4.18.0-240.el8, kernel 4.18.0-240.el8, bpftool 4.18.0-240.el8, kernel-core 4.18.0-240.el8, kernel-tools 4.18.0-240.el8, python3-perf 4.18.0-240.el8, +15 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2020:4431
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel 3.10.0-1160.el7, bpftool 3.10.0-1160.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-1160.el7, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel 3.10.0-1160.el7, bpftool 3.10.0-1160.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-1160.el7, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2020:4060
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.rt56.1131.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2020:4062
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-debug-modules 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-modules-extra 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-kvm 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-240.rt7.54.el8, +4 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2020:4609
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel 3.10.0-1160.el7, bpftool 3.10.0-1160.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-1160.el7, +7 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-1160.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel 3.10.0-1160.el7, bpftool 3.10.0-1160.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-1160.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-1160.el7, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2020:4060
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.42% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 36% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.1	4.1	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD	2.0	4.7	AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Classification

Weakness

CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference

Technology feeds

Linux kernel rss critical rss

References

lkml.org /lkml/2019/9/9/487
patch, third-party-advisory
lists.opensuse.org /opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00035.html
vendor-advisory, mailing-list, third-party-advisory
lists.opensuse.org /opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00039.html
vendor-advisory, mailing-list, third-party-advisory
usn.ubuntu.com /4227-1/
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
usn.ubuntu.com /4226-1/
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
usn.ubuntu.com /4225-1/
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
usn.ubuntu.com /4227-2/
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
usn.ubuntu.com /4225-2/
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
security.netapp.com /advisory/ntap-20191004-0001/
third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2019-16231
NVD CVE-2019-16231

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.