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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published Oct 23, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Oct 23, 2025

Package

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Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

igc: Reinstate IGC_REMOVED logic and implement it properly

The initially merged version of the igc driver code (via commit
146740f9abc4, "igc: Add support for PF") contained the following
IGC_REMOVED checks in the igc_rd32/wr32() MMIO accessors:

u32 igc_rd32(struct igc_hw *hw, u32 reg)
{
	u8 __iomem *hw_addr = READ_ONCE(hw->hw_addr);
	u32 value = 0;

	if (IGC_REMOVED(hw_addr))
		return ~value;

	value = readl(&hw_addr[reg]);

	/* reads should not return all F's */
	if (!(~value) && (!reg || !(~readl(hw_addr))))
		hw->hw_addr = NULL;

	return value;
}

And:

#define wr32(reg, val) \
do { \
	u8 __iomem *hw_addr = READ_ONCE((hw)->hw_addr); \
	if (!IGC_REMOVED(hw_addr)) \
		writel((val), &hw_addr[(reg)]); \
} while (0)

E.g. igb has similar checks in its MMIO accessors, and has a similar
macro E1000_REMOVED, which is implemented as follows:

#define E1000_REMOVED(h) unlikely(!(h))

These checks serve to detect and take note of an 0xffffffff MMIO read
return from the device, which can be caused by a PCIe link flap or some
other kind of PCI bus error, and to avoid performing MMIO reads and
writes from that point onwards.

However, the IGC_REMOVED macro was not originally implemented:

#ifndef IGC_REMOVED
#define IGC_REMOVED(a) (0)
#endif /* IGC_REMOVED */

This led to the IGC_REMOVED logic to be removed entirely in a
subsequent commit (commit 3c215fb18e70, "igc: remove IGC_REMOVED
function"), with the rationale that such checks matter only for
virtualization and that igc does not support virtualization -- but a
PCIe device can become detached even without virtualization being in
use, and without proper checks, a PCIe bus error affecting an igc
adapter will lead to various NULL pointer dereferences, as the first
access after the error will set hw->hw_addr to NULL, and subsequent
accesses will blindly dereference this now-NULL pointer.

This patch reinstates the IGC_REMOVED checks in igc_rd32/wr32(), and
implements IGC_REMOVED the way it is done for igb, by checking for the
unlikely() case of hw_addr being NULL. This change prevents the oopses
seen when a PCIe link flap occurs on an igc adapter.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Feb 26, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Oct 23, 2025
Last updated Oct 23, 2025

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(12th percentile)

Weaknesses

NULL Pointer Dereference

A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2022-49605

GHSA ID

GHSA-6hqq-r498-2prh

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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