Impact
The Linux kernel’s ueagle‑atm driver asynchronously requests a firmware file during device initialization but does not wait for the request to complete. If the USB device is unplugged while the firmware load is still in progress, the driver’s cleanup code may execute concurrently with the pending firmware load, causing the firmware subsystem to create a sysfs directory after the device has been removed. This race can trigger unexpected kernel state changes and has repeatedly caused kernel crashes, indicating a potential denial‑of‑service scenario.
Affected Systems
All Linux kernel installations that include the ueagle‑atm driver and use the asynchronous firmware request path, regardless of distribution. No specific kernel version was identified in the advisory, so any build lacking the patch may be vulnerable.
Risk and Exploitability
TheSS score is not listed and the EPSS data is unavailable, preventing a precise numerical severity assessment. However, the issue is linked to kernel panics observed by the syzkaller testing framework, suggesting a high impact if the race is exercised. Exploitation would require an attacker to cause a disconnect while the firmware load is pending, which can be achieved through physical or remote USB manipulation depending on the device exposure. The vulnerability is not currently in the CISA KEV catalog.
OpenCVE Enrichment