CVE-2025-40189 net: usb: lan78xx: Fix lost EEPROM read timeout error(-ETIMEDOUT) in lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom
A flaw in the Linux kernel lan78xx USB driver fails to propagate EEPROM read timeouts, potentially exposing uninitialized memory or causing crashes.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-40189?
CVE-2025-40189 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 12 Nov 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:
net: usb: lan78xx: Fix lost EEPROM read timeout error(-ETIMEDOUT) in lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom
Syzbot reported read of uninitialized variable BUG with following call stack.
lan78xx 8-1:1.0 (unnamed net_device) (uninitialized): EEPROM read operation timeout ===================================================== BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_read_eeprom drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1095 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_init_mac_address drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1937 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in lan78xx_reset+0x999/0x2cd0 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3241 lan78xx_read_eeprom drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1095 [inline] lan78xx_init_mac_address drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1937 [inline] lan78xx_reset+0x999/0x2cd0 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3241 lan78xx_bind+0x711/0x1690 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3766 lan78xx_probe+0x225c/0x3310 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:4707
Local variable sig.i.i created at: lan78xx_read_eeprom drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1092 [inline] lan78xx_init_mac_address drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:1937 [inline] lan78xx_reset+0x77e/0x2cd0 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3241 lan78xx_bind+0x711/0x1690 drivers/net/usb/lan78xx.c:3766
The function lan78xx_read_raw_eeprom failed to properly propagate EEPROM read timeout errors (-ETIMEDOUT). In the fallthrough path, it first attempted to restore the pin configuration for LED outputs and then returned only the status of that restore operation, discarding the original timeout error.
As a result, callers could mistakenly treat the data buffer as valid even though the EEPROM read had actually timed out with no data or partial data.
To fix this, handle errors in restoring the LED pin configuration separately. If the restore succeeds, return any prior EEPROM timeout error correctly to the caller.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-40189?
How do I fix CVE-2025-40189?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-40189 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40189 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-40189, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40189, GHSA-58wg-gmcp-2862, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40189.