CVE-2025-71156: gve: defer interrupt enabling until NAPI registration

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-01-23 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gve: defer interrupt enabling until NAPI registration Currently, interrupts are automatically enabled immediately upon request. This allows interrupt to fire before the associated NAPI context is fully initialized and cause failures like below: [ 0.946369] Call Trace: [ 0.946369] <IRQ> [ 0.946369] __napi_poll+0x2a/0x1e0 [ 0.946369] net_rx_action+0x2f9/0x3f0 [ 0.946369] handle_softirqs+0xd6/0x2c0 [ 0.946369] ? handle_edge_irq+0xc1/0x1b0 [ 0.946369] __irq_exit_rcu+0xc3/0xe0 [ 0.946369] common_interrupt+0x81/0xa0 [ 0.946369] </IRQ> [ 0.946369] <TASK> [ 0.946369] asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40 [ 0.946369] RIP: 0010:pv_native_safe_halt+0xb/0x10 Use the `IRQF_NO_AUTOEN` flag when requesting interrupts to prevent auto enablement and explicitly enable the interrupt in NAPI initialization path (and disable it during NAPI teardown). This ensures that interrupt lifecycle is strictly coupled with readiness of NAPI context.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.9 before 6.12.64; from 6.13 before 6.18.4; 6.19-rc1, 6.19-rc2, 6.19-rc3 — fixed in 6.12.64, 6.18.4

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.12.64, 6.18.4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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