# CVE-2024-40923: vmxnet3: disable rx data ring on dma allocation failure
> A flaw in the vmxnet3 driver causes a kernel crash when DMA allocation fails, leading to denial of service.
- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-40923, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-40923, GHSA-f5c9-7r2c-mghc, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-40923
## What is CVE-2024-40923?
CVE-2024-40923 is a critical vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 12 Jul 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
### Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
vmxnet3: disable rx data ring on dma allocation failure
When vmxnet3_rq_create() fails to allocate memory for rq->data_ring.base,
the subsequent call to vmxnet3_rq_destroy_all_rxdataring does not reset
rq->data_ring.desc_size for the data ring that failed, which presumably
causes the hypervisor to reference it on packet reception.
To fix this bug, rq->data_ring.desc_size needs to be set to 0 to tell
the hypervisor to disable this feature.
[ 95.436876] kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:207!
[ 95.439074] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
[ 95.440411] CPU: 7 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/7 Not tainted 6.9.3-dirty #1
[ 95.441558] Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual
Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 12/12/2018
[ 95.443481] RIP: 0010:skb_panic+0x4d/0x4f
[ 95.444404] Code: 4f 70 50 8b 87 c0 00 00 00 50 8b 87 bc 00 00 00 50
ff b7 d0 00 00 00 4c 8b 8f c8 00 00 00 48 c7 c7 68 e8 be 9f e8 63 58 f9
ff <0f> 0b 48 8b 14 24 48 c7 c1 d0 73 65 9f e8 a1 ff ff ff 48 8b 14 24
[ 95.447684] RSP: 0018:ffffa13340274dd0 EFLAGS: 00010246
[ 95.448762] RAX: 0000000000000089 RBX: ffff8fbbc72b02d0 RCX: 000000000000083f
[ 95.450148] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000000000f6 RDI: 000000000000083f
[ 95.451520] RBP: 000000000000002d R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffa13340274c60
[ 95.452886] R10: ffffffffa04ed468 R11: 0000000000000002 R12: 0000000000000000
[ 95.454293] R13: ffff8fbbdab3c2d0 R14: ffff8fbbdbd829e0 R15: ffff8fbbdbd809e0
[ 95.455682] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8fbeefd80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 95.457178] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 95.458340] CR2: 00007fd0d1f650c8 CR3: 0000000115f28000 CR4: 00000000000406f0
[ 95.459791] Call Trace:
[ 95.460515]
[ 95.461180] ? __die_body.cold+0x19/0x27
[ 95.462150] ? die+0x2e/0x50
[ 95.462976] ? do_trap+0xca/0x110
[ 95.463973] ? do_error_trap+0x6a/0x90
[ 95.464966] ? skb_panic+0x4d/0x4f
[ 95.465901] ? exc_invalid_op+0x50/0x70
[ 95.466849] ? skb_panic+0x4d/0x4f
[ 95.467718] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1a/0x20
[ 95.468758] ? skb_panic+0x4d/0x4f
[ 95.469655] skb_put.cold+0x10/0x10
[ 95.470573] vmxnet3_rq_rx_complete+0x862/0x11e0 [vmxnet3]
[ 95.471853] vmxnet3_poll_rx_only+0x36/0xb0 [vmxnet3]
[ 95.473185] __napi_poll+0x2b/0x160
[ 95.474145] net_rx_action+0x2c6/0x3b0
[ 95.475115] handle_softirqs+0xe7/0x2a0
[ 95.476122] __irq_exit_rcu+0x97/0xb0
[ 95.477109] common_interrupt+0x85/0xa0
[ 95.478102]
[ 95.478846]
[ 95.479603] asm_common_interrupt+0x26/0x40
[ 95.480657] RIP: 0010:pv_native_safe_halt+0xf/0x20
[ 95.481801] Code: 22 d7 e9 54 87 01 00 0f 1f 40 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 f3 0f 1e fa eb 07 0f 00 2d 93 ba 3b 00 fb f4 2c 87 01 00 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 90 90 90 90 90
[ 95.485563] RSP: 0018:ffffa133400ffe58 EFLAGS: 00000246
[ 95.486882] RAX: 0000000000004000 RBX: ffff8fbbc1d14064 RCX: 0000000000000000
[ 95.488477] RDX: ffff8fbeefd80000 RSI: ffff8fbbc1d14000 RDI: 0000000000000001
[ 95.490067] RBP: ffff8fbbc1d14064 R08: ffffffffa0652260 R09: 00000000000010d3
[ 95.491683] R10: 0000000000000018 R11: ffff8fbeefdb4764 R12: ffffffffa0652260
[ 95.493389] R13: ffffffffa06522e0 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 0000000000000000
[ 95.495035] acpi_safe_halt+0x14/0x20
[ 95.496127] acpi_idle_do_entry+0x2f/0x50
[ 95.497221] acpi_idle_enter+0x7f/0xd0
[ 95.498272] cpuidle_enter_state+0x81/0x420
[ 95.499375] cpuidle_enter+0x2d/0x40
[ 95.500400] do_idle+0x1e5/0x240
[ 95.501385] cpu_startup_entry+0x29/0x30
[ 95.502422] start_secondary+0x11c/0x140
[ 95.503454] common_startup_64+0x13e/0x141
[ 95.504466]
[ 95.505197] Modules linked in: nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4
nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6
nft_reject nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ip
---truncated---
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-40923?
It affects 1 product.
Products: Linux kernel.
## How do I fix CVE-2024-40923?
Apply the vendor's patch.
## Is CVE-2024-40923 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40923 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-2024-40923 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2024-40923 is a critical vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 12 Jul 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40923 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-2024-40923/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40923/index.md)
```
## Sources
- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-40923
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-40923
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-40923
---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40923/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.