Executive brief
A vulnerability was identified in the Linux kernel's Intel i40e network driver. This issue occurs when certain network drivers are used together, potentially causing the system to trigger a kernel warning or experience instability during specific network operations. This could lead to a service disruption or system crash, affecting the availability of the server.
Technical details
A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel i40e driver due to an incorrect workqueue flag configuration. The i40e driver workqueue was allocated with the WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag, while the dependent i40iw driver workqueue was not. This mismatch triggers a 'check_flush_dependency' warning when the i40e service task attempts to flush the i40iw workqueue during device closure or SRIOV testing. An attacker with local access could potentially trigger this condition to cause a kernel panic or system hang (Denial of Service). The fix involves removing the WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag from the i40e workqueue allocation to resolve the flush dependency conflict.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel 6.8.0-rc2 and earlier versions
Timeline
- 2024-05-20: advisory: CVE published by NVD
- 2024-05-02: patched: Fix committed to Linux stable tree
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/09b54d29f05129b092f7c793a70b689ffb3c7b2c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/152ed360cf2d273f88fc99a518b7eb868aae2939
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1594dac8b1ed78f9e75c263327e198a2e5e25b0e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2cc7d150550cc981aceedf008f5459193282425c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/546d0fe9d76e8229a67369f9cb61e961d99038bd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8d6105f637883c8c09825e962308c06e977de4f0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fbbb2404340dd6178e281bd427c271f7d5ec1d22