The Linux kernel module responsible for PCI/IOV functionality has a flaw where enabling or disabling SR‑IOV triggers a recursive acquisition of the pci_rescan_remove_lock. This recursive lock acquisition can lead to a deadlock that stalls kernel threads and can cause the system to become unresponsive or trigger a kernel panic. The vulnerability was identified by reverting a previous commit that attempted to add this lock. The likely attack scenario involves a privileged user or a process with direct access to the PCI subsystem executing SR‑IOV configuration commands such as writing to /sys/bus/pci/devices/<pf>/sriov_numvfs or /sys/bus/pci/devices/<pf>/remove. Because these operations involve manipulating PCI device state, the vulnerability requires local or remote access to those control interfaces. The deadlock represents a denial‑of‑service weakness that can result in complete loss of system availability. While there is no direct data‑exfiltration or code‑execution vector, the interruption of kernel operations constitutes a serious impact for production environments relying on SR‑IOV.

All systems with the Linux kernel that include the PCI/IOV driver path containing the vulnerable lock logic are affected. The CNAs identify the product as "Linux: Linux" and the CPE string indicates the Linux kernel in general. Specific version information is not supplied, so any kernel release that includes the problematic commit (such as those near the current stable series) is potentially impacted. Users should check if the kernel contains commit 05703271c3cd or a newer state where the commit has been reverted.

No EPSS score is available and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog, suggesting limited public exploitation activity to date. The CVSS score is not provided, but the nature of the flaw—causing a deadlock that stops essential kernel services—implies a high severity on the impact scale. Exploitation requires privileged access to the SR‑IOV interface and a configuration scenario that triggers both the lock acquisition in sriov_disable and the concurrent removal path in pci_stop_and_remove_bus_device_locked. Because the flaw manifests during normal kernel operation rather than via a remote attack surface, the risk level is characterized as significant local exploitation potential.