CVE-2025-40189
- Published: 2025-11-12T22:15:45.833
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: usb: lan78xx: Fix lost EEPROM read timeout error(-ETIMEDOUT) in lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom
Syzbot reported read of uninitialized variable BUG with following call stack.
lan78xx 8-1:1.0 (unnamed net_device) (uninitialized): EEPROM read operation timeout
=====================================================
BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_read_eeprom drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1095 [inline]
BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_init_mac_address drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1937 [inline]
BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_reset+0x999/0x2cd0 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3241
lan78xx_read_eeprom drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1095 [inline]
lan78xx_init_mac_address drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1937 [inline]
lan78xx_reset+0x999/0x2cd0 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3241
lan78xx_bind+0x711/0x1690 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3766
lan78xx_probe+0x225c/0x3310 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:4707
Local variable sig.i.i created at:
lan78xx_read_eeprom drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1092 [inline]
lan78xx_init_mac_address drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1937 [inline]
lan78xx_reset+0x77e/0x2cd0 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3241
lan78xx_bind+0x711/0x1690 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3766
The function lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom failed to properly propagate EEPROM
read timeout errors (-ETIMEDOUT). In the fallthrough path, it first
attempted to restore the pin configuration for LED outputs and then
returned only the status of that restore operation, discarding the
original timeout error.
As a result, callers could mistakenly treat the data buffer as valid
even though the EEPROM read had actually timed out with no data or partial
data.
To fix this, handle errors in restoring the LED pin configuration separately.
If the restore succeeds, return any prior EEPROM timeout error correctly
to the caller.
Related CVE by CWE
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How to fix CVE-2025-40189
Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: usb: lan78xx: Fix lost EEPROM read timeout error(-ETIMEDOUT) in lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom Syzbot reported read of uninitialized variable BUG with following call stack. lan78xx 8-1:1.0 (unnamed net_device) (uninitialized): EEPROM read operation timeout ===================================================== BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_read_eeprom drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1095 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_init_mac_address drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1937 […]
Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
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CVE details first published to NVD database
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