Service interrupt via discarded EEPROM timeout
Published Nov 12, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Uninitialized-data use in the Linux kernel 6.14 through 6.17.3 allows local users to interrupt service via lan78xx EEPROM read timeouts. The lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom fallthrough returns the LED-pin restoration status instead of a prior -ETIMEDOUT, so callers accept an empty or partial buffer as valid. Triggering the flaw requires a lan78xx device whose EEPROM read times out during driver probe or reset; published evidence establishes availability impact but no data disclosure or modification.
Summary
What happened
Uninitialized-data use in the Linux kernel 6.14 through 6.17.3 allows local users to interrupt service via lan78xx EEPROM read timeouts. The lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom fallthrough returns the LED-pin restoration status instead of a prior -ETIMEDOUT, so callers accept an empty or partial buffer as valid. Triggering the flaw requires a lan78xx device whose EEPROM read times out during driver probe or reset; published evidence establishes availability impact but no data disclosure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-40189
- Published
- Nov 12, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 12, 2025CVE 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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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.14
- Affected versionversion=8b1b2ca83b200fa46fdfb81e80ad5fe34537e6d4 <49bdb63ff64469a6de8ea901aef123c75be9bbe7
- Affected versionversion=8b1b2ca83b200fa46fdfb81e80ad5fe34537e6d4 <a72a7c4f675080a324d4c2167bd2314d968279f1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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