CyberRota Analysis
AI-GeneratedThe vulnerability affects the Linux kernel's handling of the transmit (TX) queue in the IPA (Internet Protocol Accelerator) driver, leading to permanent transmit stalls during runtime resume operations. This issue can cause significant disruptions in cellular data communication, particularly on devices like the Fairphone 6, as packets accumulate without being transmitted. Organizations using Linux-based systems, especially those relying on cellular connectivity, should prioritize addressing this vulnerability to ensure uninterrupted network operations.
Original NVD Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ipa: fix stalled modem TX queue after runtime resume 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.