Linux Kernel up to 6.17.4/6.18-rc1 ixgbe devlink_free use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.4/6.18-rc1. Impacted is the function devlink_free of the component ixgbe. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-40091. No exploit is available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.4/6.18-rc1. This affects the function devlink_free of the component ixgbe. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ixgbe: fix too early devlink_free() in ixgbe_remove() Since ixgbe_adapter is embedded in devlink, calling devlink_free() prematurely in the ixgbe_remove() path can lead to UAF. Move devlink_free() to the end. KASAN report: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ixgbe_reset_interrupt_capability+0x140/0x180 [ixgbe] Read of size 8 at addr ffff0000adf813e0 by task bash/2095 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 2095 Comm: bash Tainted: G S 6.17.0-rc2-tnguy.net-queue+ #1 PREEMPT(full) [...] Call trace: show_stack+0x30/0x90 (C) dump_stack_lvl+0x9c/0xd0 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x90/0x310 print_report+0x104/0x1f0 kasan_report+0x88/0x180 __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x20/0x30 ixgbe_reset_interrupt_capability+0x140/0x180 [ixgbe] ixgbe_clear_interrupt_scheme+0xf8/0x130 [ixgbe] ixgbe_remove+0x2d0/0x8c0 [ixgbe] pci_device_remove+0xa0/0x220 device_remove+0xb8/0x170 device_release_driver_internal+0x318/0x490 device_driver_detach+0x40/0x68 unbind_store+0xec/0x118 drv_attr_store+0x64/0xb8 sysfs_kf_write+0xcc/0x138 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x294/0x440 new_sync_write+0x1fc/0x588 vfs_write+0x480/0x6a0 ksys_write+0xf0/0x1e0 __arm64_sys_write+0x70/0xc0 invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0xcc/0x280 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xa8/0x248 do_el0_svc+0x44/0x68 el0_svc+0x54/0x160 el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe8 el0t_64_sync+0x1b0/0x1b8

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-40091 since 04/16/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/15/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 272059 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-40091), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.17.5 or 6.18-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch df445969aa727cd64f3f29dc1f85fb60aca238d1/5feef67b646d8f5064bac288e22204ffba2b9a4a is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (272059) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2450). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell NetWorker

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2
• 6.17.3
• 6.17.4
• 6.18-rc1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

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