gve: prevent ethtool ops after shutdown
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gve: prevent ethtool ops after shutdown A crash can occur if an ethtool operation is invoked after shutdown() is called. shutdown() is invoked during system shutdown to stop DMA operations without performing expensive deallocations. It is discouraged to unregister the netdev in this path, so the device may still be visible to userspace and kernel helpers. In gve, shutdown() tears down most internal data structures. If an ethtool operation is dispatched after shutdown(), it will dereference freed or NULL pointers, leading to a kernel panic. While graceful shutdown normally quiesces userspace before invoking the reboot syscall, forced shutdowns (as observed on GCP VMs) can still trigger this path. Fix by calling netif_device_detach() in shutdown(). This marks the device as detached so the ethtool ioctl handler will skip dispatching operations to the driver.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.17 and later | 6.1.149, 6.6.103, 6.12.44, 6.16.4, 6.17 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.17 and later Fixed in 6.1.149, 6.6.103, 6.12.44, 6.16.4, 6.17 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 4
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.17 to before 6.1.149; 6.2 to before 6.6.103; 6.7 to before 6.12.44; 6.13 to before 6.16.4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.17 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.17 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 11.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.17 to before 6.1.149; 6.2 to before 6.6.103; 6.7 to before 6.12.44; 6.13 to before 6.16.4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.17 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.17 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.149, 6.6.103, 6.12.44, 6.16.4, 6.17
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-38735
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-7wxg-2396-hr4x
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/48a4e89d50e8ea52e800bc7865970b92fcf4647c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba51d73408edf815cbaeab148625576c2dd90192
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7efffeecb881b4649fdc30de020ef910f35d646
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9d8a41e9a4ff83ff666de811e7f012167cdc00e9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75a9a46d67f46d608205888f9b34e315c1786345
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
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- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2025-38735 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-38735 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-7wxg-2396-hr4x · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-38735 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences