# 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.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Nov 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-40189, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40189, GHSA-58wg-gmcp-2862, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40189

## 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.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-40189 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40189 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-2025-40189/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40189/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-40189
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-40189
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-40189

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40189/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.