CVE-2025-21682
MEDIUMDescription
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: eth: bnxt: always recalculate features after XDP clearing, fix null-deref Recalculate features when XDP is detached. Before: # ip li set dev eth0 xdp obj xdp_dummy.bpf.o sec xdp # ip li set dev eth0 xdp off # ethtool -k eth0 | grep gro rx-gro-hw: off [requested on] After: # ip li set dev eth0 xdp obj xdp_dummy.bpf.o sec xdp # ip li set dev eth0 xdp off # ethtool -k eth0 | grep gro rx-gro-hw: on The fact that HW-GRO doesn't get re-enabled automatically is just a minor annoyance. The real issue is that the features will randomly come back during another reconfiguration which just happens to invoke netdev_update_features(). The driver doesn't handle reconfiguring two things at a time very robustly. Starting with commit 98ba1d931f61 ("bnxt_en: Fix RSS logic in __bnxt_reserve_rings()") we only reconfigure the RSS hash table if the "effective" number of Rx rings has changed. If HW-GRO is enabled "effective" number of rings is 2x what user sees. So if we are in the bad state, with HW-GRO re-enablement "pending" after XDP off, and we lower the rings by / 2 - the HW-GRO rings doing 2x and the ethtool -L doing / 2 may cancel each other out, and the: if (old_rx_rings != bp->hw_resc.resv_rx_rings && condition in __bnxt_reserve_rings() will be false. The RSS map won't get updated, and we'll crash with: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000168 RIP: 0010:__bnxt_hwrm_vnic_set_rss+0x13a/0x1a0 bnxt_hwrm_vnic_rss_cfg_p5+0x47/0x180 __bnxt_setup_vnic_p5+0x58/0x110 bnxt_init_nic+0xb72/0xf50 __bnxt_open_nic+0x40d/0xab0 bnxt_open_nic+0x2b/0x60 ethtool_set_channels+0x18c/0x1d0 As we try to access a freed ring. The issue is present since XDP support was added, really, but prior to commit 98ba1d931f61 ("bnxt_en: Fix RSS logic in __bnxt_reserve_rings()") it wasn't causing major issues.
How to fix
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 11% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-21758 | High | 7.5 | 92% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-21547 | High | 7.5 | 88% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2014-3470 | Medium | 4.3 | 86% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-44224 | High | 8.2 | 82% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2016-0742 | High | 7.5 | 82% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2009-1386 | Medium | 5.0 | 80% | - | Fix |
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Start freeThis product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-03-25.