# CVE-2021-46914: ixgbe: fix unbalanced device enable/disable in suspend/resume

> A bug in the ixgbe network driver causes an unbalanced device disable during suspend, leading to a kernel warning and potential system instability.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-46914, GHSA-r4hf-7fhj-q7fq, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46914

## What is CVE-2021-46914?

CVE-2021-46914 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

ixgbe: fix unbalanced device enable/disable in suspend/resume

pci_disable_device() called in __ixgbe_shutdown() decreases
dev->enable_cnt by 1. pci_enable_device_mem() which increases
dev->enable_cnt by 1, was removed from ixgbe_resume() in commit
6f82b2558735 ("ixgbe: use generic power management"). This caused
unbalanced increase/decrease. So add pci_enable_device_mem() back.

Fix the following call trace.

  ixgbe 0000:17:00.1: disabling already-disabled device
  Call Trace:
   __ixgbe_shutdown+0x10a/0x1e0 [ixgbe]
   ixgbe_suspend+0x32/0x70 [ixgbe]
   pci_pm_suspend+0x87/0x160
   ? pci_pm_freeze+0xd0/0xd0
   dpm_run_callback+0x42/0x170
   __device_suspend+0x114/0x460
   async_suspend+0x1f/0xa0
   async_run_entry_fn+0x3c/0xf0
   process_one_work+0x1dd/0x410
   worker_thread+0x34/0x3f0
   ? cancel_delayed_work+0x90/0x90
   kthread+0x14c/0x170
   ? kthread_park+0x90/0x90
   ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-46914?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-46914?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-46914 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-46914 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-46914 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-46914 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-46914 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46914/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46914/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-46914
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-46914
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-46914

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46914/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.