The vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's TI icssg Ethernet driver. When the driver’s ndo_get_stats64() routine runs, it calls emac_get_stat_by_name() with firmware PA stat names without verifying that the PA stats block is present on the hardware. This missing guard leads the routine to attempt a lookup that fails, generating thousands of ‘Invalid stats’ error messages to the kernel log each time the statistics are polled. The routine also returns a negative error code, which is internally promoted to an unsigned 64‑bit value, causing the receive, dropped, and transmit counter fields in the rtnl_link_stats64 structure to be corrupted to values near the maximum unsigned 64‑bit number. The result is both an excessive flood of error logs and inaccurate network statistics reported by utilities such as ip –s link.

This issue affects any system running the Linux kernel with the icssg Ethernet driver enabled, regardless of distribution. The vendor and product are Linux kernels on Linux hardware. No specific kernel release numbers are listed, but the problem existed in older kernel versions that lacked the guard added in later commits. Systems that include this driver and regularly poll network statistics are impacted.

The CVSS score is 5.5, the EPSS score is <1%, and it is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, indicating it has not been widely exploited or cataloged. The vulnerability is local to the kernel and would only manifest on systems where the driver runs and statistics are polled. An attacker with local or privileged access could potentially use the log flood to hide other activity or make use of the corrupted counters for misreporting, but the flaw does not provide a direct path for remote code execution or escalation without additional weaknesses.