# CVE-2025-39814: ice: fix NULL pointer dereference in ice_unplug_aux_dev() on reset

> A local attacker can crash the Linux kernel by triggering a device reset when the ice driver is loaded without RDMA support.

- **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:** 16 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-39814, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-39814, GHSA-7g52-rhh3-6j2h, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-39814

## What is CVE-2025-39814?

CVE-2025-39814 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Sep 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:

ice: fix NULL pointer dereference in ice_unplug_aux_dev() on reset

Issuing a reset when the driver is loaded without RDMA support, will
results in a crash as it attempts to remove RDMA's non-existent auxbus
device:
echo 1 > /sys/class/net/<if>/device/reset

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008
...
RIP: 0010:ice_unplug_aux_dev+0x29/0x70 [ice]
...
Call Trace:
<TASK>
ice_prepare_for_reset+0x77/0x260 [ice]
pci_dev_save_and_disable+0x2c/0x70
pci_reset_function+0x88/0x130
reset_store+0x5a/0xa0
kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x15e/0x210
vfs_write+0x273/0x520
ksys_write+0x6b/0xe0
do_syscall_64+0x79/0x3b0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

ice_unplug_aux_dev() checks pf->cdev_info->adev for NULL pointer, but
pf->cdev_info will also be NULL, leading to the deref in the trace above.

Introduce a flag to be set when the creation of the auxbus device is
successful, to avoid multiple NULL pointer checks in ice_unplug_aux_dev().

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-39814?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-39814?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-39814 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39814 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-2025-39814 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-39814 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Sep 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-2025-39814 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-2025-39814/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39814/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-39814
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-39814
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-39814

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39814/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.