The kernel driver for the MAX17040 fuel gauge forwards the power supply status property to a supplier supply device. When no supplier is registered, the lookup fails but the driver mistakenly treats the failure as a successful operation. As a result, userspace receives an uninitialized status value, which can confuse battery management systems and may cause the device to behave as if the battery status is unknown or erroneous. This flaw does not provide remote code execution or significant privilege escalation but can lead to incorrect power state information in user-space applications.

Linux kernel users that operate the MAX17040 fuel gauge driver, particularly those without a configured charger state supplier in their firmware. No specific kernel version range is listed in the available data, so any production kernel that includes this driver without the patch is potentially affected.

The vulnerability has no CVSS or EPSS data available and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The flaw does not allow an attacker to execute code or exfiltrate sensitive data; it only causes userspace to read an uninitialized value. Consequently, the risk is considered low, limited to misreported battery status and potential inconvenience in power management operations.