CVE-2024-36020: i40e: fix vf may be used uninitialized in this function warning

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-05-30 · updated 2026-10-15
Weakness: CWE-908

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i40e: fix vf may be used uninitialized in this function warning To fix the regression introduced by commit 52424f974bc5, which causes servers hang in very hard to reproduce conditions with resets races. Using two sources for the information is the root cause. In this function before the fix bumping v didn't mean bumping vf pointer. But the code used this variables interchangeably, so stale vf could point to different/not intended vf. Remove redundant "v" variable and iterate via single VF pointer across whole function instead to guarantee VF pointer validity.

Affected products

Debian Linux: 10.0
Linux kernel: from 4.19.264 before 4.19.312; from 5.4.223 before 5.4.274; from 5.10.153 before 5.10.215; from 5.15.77 before 5.15.154; from 6.0.7 before 6.1; from 6.1.1 before 6.1.85 — fixed in 4.19.312, 5.10.215, 5.15.154, 5.4.274, 6.1, 6.1.85

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.19.312, 5.10.215, 5.15.154, 5.4.274. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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