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CVE-2026-80997
net: ipa: fix stalled modem TX queue after runtime resume
Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/net. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-80997 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6528-1 · 2026-09-29 · text | 6.12.111-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6528-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-29, in 6.12.111-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4817-1 · 2026-10-04 · text | 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4817-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-04, in 6.12.111-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
ipa_start_xmit() unconditionally stops the TX queue before calling pm_runtime_get(), relying on the wake scheduled by runtime resume (ipa_modem_wake_queue_work()) to restart it once power is ACTIVE. But that work is queued from within the runtime resume callback, before the device's power state reaches RPM_ACTIVE, so it can run while the device is still RPM_RESUMING. The wake is then consumed too early: the transmit it restarts stops the queue again, pm_runtime_get() returns -EINPROGRESS without arranging any future wake (deferred_resume exists only for RPM_SUSPENDING), and after the resume completes nothing is left to wake the queue. Transmit stalls permanently: packets pile up in the qdisc behind the stopped queue, the device runtime-suspends, and since the netdev registers no ndo_tx_timeout the watchdog never fires. Observed on SM7635 (Fairphone 6) as the cellular data path going permanently deaf within hours, RX included, since nothing resumes the suspended endpoints. Close the window by making the wake work wait for the resume to complete (pm_runtime_get_sync()) before waking the queue. Every queue stop is then guaranteed a later wake that happens while power is ACTIVE; a transmit racing a new suspend/resume cycle re-schedules the work. If the device could not be resumed, wake the queue anyway so pending packets are dropped by the transmit path rather than stranded. The STARTED power flag used to narrow this window: a wake running before the transmit path's stop suppressed that stop, but only once, as the flag was cleared by the first stop it absorbed. Removing the flag made a single transmit during an in-flight resume sufficient to strand the queue, which is the form observed. With an accelerated reproducer (autosuspend delay shortened to 5 ms, ~20 packets/s of TX), an unpatched kernel stalled three times in 230 s / 4380 packets; with this patch the same test ran 3601 s / 70298 packets without a stall.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
drivers/net/ipa/ipa_modem.c
- What this is
- QCOM IPA DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/ipa/ · netdev@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- ipa
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_QCOM_IPA /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w ipaPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian does not build this code in 1 release. It does build it in 4 releases, so the answer depends on which release the machine runs.
- bookwormn
- trixieMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- forky, sidMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, loong64/loong64, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- bookworm · linux-6.12Mnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k
- n
- not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switch
- CONFIG_QCOM_IPA
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-09-11 (37 days ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.5 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.61%, higher than 48.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/net
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.9 | 6.12.109 | 30d5226bac52 |
| 6.9 | 6.18.50 | 62da38b4b3a0 |
| 6.9 | 7.2.4 | 30cef9c1229a |
| 6.9 | 7.3 | 3cbfd627ee72 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4817-1 | 2026-10-04 | bookworm 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
| DSA-6528-1 | 2026-09-29 | trixie 6.12.111-1 | tracker |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:NAttack vector, network
- Qualcomm IPA is the cellular WAN datapath on phones and similar devices. Remote packets on that internet-facing path wake runtime-suspended IPA via the suspend interrupt, resume endpoints, and induce TX (TCP RST/ACK or ICMP) through ipa_start_xmit during the resume window.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- After the 500ms autosuspend delay, a single TX while resume is still RPM_RESUMING permanently strands the queue. The attacker controls the traffic that starts resume and the TX that consumes the premature wake, and can retry the idle-then-send pattern until the pm_wq race hits.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- Triggering requires only unauthenticated packets to the device's cellular IP (or any induced TX on an already-up rmnet_ipa interface). No local account, capability, or init-namespace privilege is needed; modem-stack interface bring-up is an infrastructure prerequisite.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim interaction is required beyond normal operation of an already-up cellular interface. The attacker only needs to wait for runtime autosuspend and send packets that cause TX during resume.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The stall is confined to the IPA modem netdev TX/RX path in the same host kernel and does not cross a VM, IOMMU, or sandbox security boundary.
- C:NConfidentiality impact, none
- The defect only mismanages netif TX queue start/stop around runtime PM. There is no out-of-bounds access, use-after-free, or other information-disclosure primitive.
- I:NIntegrity impact, none
- No memory corruption, arbitrary write, or control-flow hijacking occurs. Packets are stranded or later dropped; the attacker cannot modify kernel or user data.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- When the premature wake is consumed during RPM_RESUMING, the TX queue stays stopped with no ndo_tx_timeout recovery. Packets pile up, IPA runtime-suspends, and RX also dies, permanently silencing the cellular data path until reboot.