# CVE-2023-54166: igc: Fix Kernel Panic during ndo_tx_timeout callback > A race condition in the igc network driver causes a kernel panic during transmit timeouts, leading to system denial of service. - **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 30 Dec 2025 - **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54166, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54166, GHSA-632c-w85f-cm68, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54166 ## What is CVE-2023-54166? CVE-2023-54166 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Dec 2025. 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: igc: Fix Kernel Panic during ndo_tx_timeout callback The Xeon validation group has been carrying out some loaded tests with various HW configurations, and they have seen some transmit queue time out happening during the test. This will cause the reset adapter function to be called by igc_tx_timeout(). Similar race conditions may arise when the interface is being brought down and up in igc_reinit_locked(), an interrupt being generated, and igc_clean_tx_irq() being called to complete the TX. When the igc_tx_timeout() function is invoked, this patch will turn off all TX ring HW queues during igc_down() process. TX ring HW queues will be activated again during the igc_configure_tx_ring() process when performing the igc_up() procedure later. This patch also moved existing igc_disable_tx_ring_hw() to avoid using forward declaration. Kernel trace: [ 7678.747813] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 7678.757914] NETDEV WATCHDOG: enp1s0 (igc): transmit queue 2 timed out [ 7678.770117] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 13 at net/sched/sch_generic.c:525 dev_watchdog+0x1ae/0x1f0 [ 7678.784459] Modules linked in: xt_conntrack nft_chain_nat xt_MASQUERADE xt_addrtype nft_compat nf_tables nfnetlink br_netfilter bridge stp llc overlay dm_mod emrcha(PO) emriio(PO) rktpm(PO) cegbuf_mod(PO) patch_update(PO) se(PO) sgx_tgts(PO) mktme(PO) keylocker(PO) svtdx(PO) svfs_pci_hotplug(PO) vtd_mod(PO) davemem(PO) svmabort(PO) svindexio(PO) usbx2(PO) ehci_sched(PO) svheartbeat(PO) ioapic(PO) sv8259(PO) svintr(PO) lt(PO) pcierootport(PO) enginefw_mod(PO) ata(PO) smbus(PO) spiflash_cdf(PO) arden(PO) dsa_iax(PO) oobmsm_punit(PO) cpm(PO) svkdb(PO) ebg_pch(PO) pch(PO) sviotargets(PO) svbdf(PO) svmem(PO) svbios(PO) dram(PO) svtsc(PO) targets(PO) superio(PO) svkernel(PO) cswitch(PO) mcf(PO) pentiumIII_mod(PO) fs_svfs(PO) mdevdefdb(PO) svfs_os_services(O) ixgbe mdio mdio_devres libphy emeraldrapids_svdefs(PO) regsupport(O) libnvdimm nls_cp437 snd_hda_codec_realtek snd_hda_codec_generic ledtrig_audio snd_hda_intel snd_intel_dspcfg snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep x86_pkg_temp_thermal snd_hda_core snd_pcm snd_timer isst_if_mbox_pci [ 7678.784496] input_leds isst_if_mmio sg snd isst_if_common soundcore wmi button sad9(O) drm fuse backlight configfs efivarfs ip_tables x_tables vmd sdhci led_class rtl8150 r8152 hid_generic pegasus mmc_block usbhid mmc_core hid megaraid_sas ixgb igb i2c_algo_bit ice i40e hpsa scsi_transport_sas e1000e e1000 e100 ax88179_178a usbnet xhci_pci sd_mod xhci_hcd t10_pi crc32c_intel crc64_rocksoft igc crc64 crc_t10dif usbcore crct10dif_generic ptp crct10dif_common usb_common pps_core [ 7679.200403] RIP: 0010:dev_watchdog+0x1ae/0x1f0 [ 7679.210201] Code: 28 e9 53 ff ff ff 4c 89 e7 c6 05 06 42 b9 00 01 e8 17 d1 fb ff 44 89 e9 4c 89 e6 48 c7 c7 40 ad fb 81 48 89 c2 e8 52 62 82 ff <0f> 0b e9 72 ff ff ff 65 8b 05 80 7d 7c 7e 89 c0 48 0f a3 05 0a c1 [ 7679.245438] RSP: 0018:ffa00000001f7d90 EFLAGS: 00010282 [ 7679.256021] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ff11000109938440 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 7679.268710] RDX: ff11000361e26cd8 RSI: ff11000361e1b880 RDI: ff11000361e1b880 [ 7679.281314] RBP: ffa00000001f7da8 R08: ff1100035f8fffe8 R09: 0000000000027ffb [ 7679.293840] R10: 0000000000001f0a R11: ff1100035f840000 R12: ff11000109938000 [ 7679.306276] R13: 0000000000000002 R14: dead000000000122 R15: ffa00000001f7e18 [ 7679.318648] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ff11000361e00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 7679.332064] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 7679.342757] CR2: 00007ffff7fca168 CR3: 000000013b08a006 CR4: 0000000000471ef8 [ 7679.354984] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 7679.367207] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe07f0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [ 7679.379370] PKRU: 55555554 [ 7679.386446] Call Trace: [ 7679.393152] [ 7679.399363] ? __pfx_dev_watchdog+0x10/0x10 [ 7679.407870] call_timer_fn+0x31/0x110 [ 7679.415698] e ---truncated--- ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54166? ## How do I fix CVE-2023-54166? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2023-54166 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54166 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54166 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2023-54166 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Dec 2025. 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-2023-54166 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-54166/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54166/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54166 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54166 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54166 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54166/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.