# CVE-2024-38540: bnxt_re: avoid shift undefined behavior in bnxt_qplib_alloc_init_hwq

> A local attacker can trigger undefined behavior in the bnxt_re driver via specific hardware queue attributes, potentially causing a system crash.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 Jun 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-59408, BELL-CVE-2024-38540, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38540, GHSA-h5r4-f5wx-726x, OESA-2024-1864, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-38540, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-38540, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38540

## What is CVE-2024-38540?

CVE-2024-38540 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jun 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:

bnxt_re: avoid shift undefined behavior in bnxt_qplib_alloc_init_hwq

Undefined behavior is triggered when bnxt_qplib_alloc_init_hwq is called
with hwq_attr->aux_depth != 0 and hwq_attr->aux_stride == 0.
In that case, "roundup_pow_of_two(hwq_attr->aux_stride)" gets called.
roundup_pow_of_two is documented as undefined for 0.

Fix it in the one caller that had this combination.

The undefined behavior was detected by UBSAN:
  UBSAN: shift-out-of-bounds in ./include/linux/log2.h:57:13
  shift exponent 64 is too large for 64-bit type 'long unsigned int'
  CPU: 24 PID: 1075 Comm: (udev-worker) Not tainted 6.9.0-rc6+ #4
  Hardware name: Abacus electric, s.r.o. - servis@abacus.cz Super Server/H12SSW-iN, BIOS 2.7 10/25/2023
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   dump_stack_lvl+0x5d/0x80
   ubsan_epilogue+0x5/0x30
   __ubsan_handle_shift_out_of_bounds.cold+0x61/0xec
   __roundup_pow_of_two+0x25/0x35 [bnxt_re]
   bnxt_qplib_alloc_init_hwq+0xa1/0x470 [bnxt_re]
   bnxt_qplib_create_qp+0x19e/0x840 [bnxt_re]
   bnxt_re_create_qp+0x9b1/0xcd0 [bnxt_re]
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? __kmalloc+0x1b6/0x4f0
   ? create_qp.part.0+0x128/0x1c0 [ib_core]
   ? __pfx_bnxt_re_create_qp+0x10/0x10 [bnxt_re]
   create_qp.part.0+0x128/0x1c0 [ib_core]
   ib_create_qp_kernel+0x50/0xd0 [ib_core]
   create_mad_qp+0x8e/0xe0 [ib_core]
   ? __pfx_qp_event_handler+0x10/0x10 [ib_core]
   ib_mad_init_device+0x2be/0x680 [ib_core]
   add_client_context+0x10d/0x1a0 [ib_core]
   enable_device_and_get+0xe0/0x1d0 [ib_core]
   ib_register_device+0x53c/0x630 [ib_core]
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   bnxt_re_probe+0xbd8/0xe50 [bnxt_re]
   ? __pfx_bnxt_re_probe+0x10/0x10 [bnxt_re]
   auxiliary_bus_probe+0x49/0x80
   ? driver_sysfs_add+0x57/0xc0
   really_probe+0xde/0x340
   ? pm_runtime_barrier+0x54/0x90
   ? __pfx___driver_attach+0x10/0x10
   __driver_probe_device+0x78/0x110
   driver_probe_device+0x1f/0xa0
   __driver_attach+0xba/0x1c0
   bus_for_each_dev+0x8f/0xe0
   bus_add_driver+0x146/0x220
   driver_register+0x72/0xd0
   __auxiliary_driver_register+0x6e/0xd0
   ? __pfx_bnxt_re_mod_init+0x10/0x10 [bnxt_re]
   bnxt_re_mod_init+0x3e/0xff0 [bnxt_re]
   ? __pfx_bnxt_re_mod_init+0x10/0x10 [bnxt_re]
   do_one_initcall+0x5b/0x310
   do_init_module+0x90/0x250
   init_module_from_file+0x86/0xc0
   idempotent_init_module+0x121/0x2b0
   __x64_sys_finit_module+0x5e/0xb0
   do_syscall_64+0x82/0x160
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x149/0x170
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x75/0x230
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? do_syscall_64+0x8e/0x160
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? __count_memcg_events+0x69/0x100
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? count_memcg_events.constprop.0+0x1a/0x30
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? handle_mm_fault+0x1f0/0x300
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? do_user_addr_fault+0x34e/0x640
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
  RIP: 0033:0x7f4e5132821d
  Code: ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d e3 db 0c 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48
  RSP: 002b:00007ffca9c906a8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000139
  RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000563ec8a8f130 RCX: 00007f4e5132821d
  RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00007f4e518fa07d RDI: 000000000000003b
  RBP: 00007ffca9c90760 R08: 00007f4e513f6b20 R09: 00007ffca9c906f0
  R10: 0000563ec8a8faa0 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007f4e518fa07d
  R13: 0000000000020000 R14: 0000563ec8409e90 R15: 0000563ec8a8fa60
   </TASK>
  ---[ end trace ]---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-38540?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-38540?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-38540 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-38540 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-2024-38540 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-38540 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jun 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-2024-38540 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-2024-38540/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38540/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-38540
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38540
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38540

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38540/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.