System hang via sleeping IRQ disable
Published Jun 19, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Improper locking in the Linux kernel FEC Ethernet driver allows local users to hang the system through netpoll activity. The fec_poll_controller() callback invokes disable_irq() while netpoll is in atomic context, even though disable_irq() can sleep, creating a deadlock. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and an active FEC interface using netpoll; the documented consequence is an availability-only system hang.
Summary
What happened
Improper locking in the Linux kernel FEC Ethernet driver allows local users to hang the system through netpoll activity. The fec_poll_controller() callback invokes disable_irq() while netpoll is in atomic context, even though disable_irq() can sleep, creating a deadlock. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and an active FEC interface using netpoll; the documented consequence is an availability-only system hang.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-38553
- Published
- Jun 19, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-667, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 19, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=3.2
- Affected versionversion=7f5c6addcdc039c1a7c435857e6284ecac5d97c8 <87bcbc9b7e0b43a69d44efa5f32f11e32d08fa6f
- Affected versionversion=7f5c6addcdc039c1a7c435857e6284ecac5d97c8 <accdd6b912c4219b8e056d1f1ad2e85bc66ee243
- Affected versionversion=7f5c6addcdc039c1a7c435857e6284ecac5d97c8 <c2e0c58b25a0a0c37ec643255558c5af4450c9f5
- Affected versionversion=7f5c6addcdc039c1a7c435857e6284ecac5d97c8 <d38625f71950e79e254515c5fc585552dad4b33e
- Affected versionversion=7f5c6addcdc039c1a7c435857e6284ecac5d97c8 <e2348d8c61d03feece1de4c05f72e6e99f74c650
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
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