CVE-2025-40104
ixgbevf: fix mailbox API compatibility by negotiating supported features
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ixgbevf: fix mailbox API compatibility by negotiating supported features There was backward compatibility in the terms of mailbox API. Various drivers from various OSes supporting 10G adapters from Intel portfolio could easily negotiate mailbox API. This convention has been broken since introducing API 1.4. Commit 0062e7cc955e ("ixgbevf: add VF IPsec offload code") added support for IPSec which is specific only for the kernel ixgbe driver. None of the rest of the Intel 10G PF/VF drivers supports it. And actually lack of support was not included in the IPSec implementation - there were no such code paths. No possibility to negotiate support for the feature was introduced along with introduction of the feature itself. Commit 339f28964147 ("ixgbevf: Add support for new mailbox communication between PF and VF") increasing API version to 1.5 did the same - it introduced code supported specifically by the PF ESX driver. It altered API version for the VF driver in the same time not touching the version defined for the PF ixgbe driver. It led to additional discrepancies, as the code provided within API 1.6 cannot be supported for Linux ixgbe driver as it causes crashes. The issue was noticed some time ago and mitigated by Jake within the commit d0725312adf5 ("ixgbevf: stop attempting IPSEC offload on Mailbox API 1.5"). As a result we have regression for IPsec support and after increasing API to version 1.6 ixgbevf driver stopped to support ESX MBX. To fix this mess add new mailbox op asking PF driver about supported features. Basing on a response determine whether to set support for IPSec and ESX-specific enhanced mailbox. New mailbox op, for compatibility purposes, must be added within new API revision, as API version of OOT PF & VF drivers is already increased to 1.6 and doesn't incorporate features negotiate op. Features negotiation mechanism gives possibility to be extended with new features when needed in the future.
INFO
Published Date :
Oct. 30, 2025, 10:15 a.m.
Last Modified :
Oct. 30, 2025, 3:03 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2025-40104
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
Solution
- Add new mailbox operation to negotiate features.
- Update drivers to use the negotiation mechanism.
- Ensure compatibility with existing driver versions.
- Test feature negotiation thoroughly before deployment.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2025-40104.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-40104 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2025-40104
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2025-40104 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2025-40104 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
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New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Oct. 30, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ixgbevf: fix mailbox API compatibility by negotiating supported features There was backward compatibility in the terms of mailbox API. Various drivers from various OSes supporting 10G adapters from Intel portfolio could easily negotiate mailbox API. This convention has been broken since introducing API 1.4. Commit 0062e7cc955e ("ixgbevf: add VF IPsec offload code") added support for IPSec which is specific only for the kernel ixgbe driver. None of the rest of the Intel 10G PF/VF drivers supports it. And actually lack of support was not included in the IPSec implementation - there were no such code paths. No possibility to negotiate support for the feature was introduced along with introduction of the feature itself. Commit 339f28964147 ("ixgbevf: Add support for new mailbox communication between PF and VF") increasing API version to 1.5 did the same - it introduced code supported specifically by the PF ESX driver. It altered API version for the VF driver in the same time not touching the version defined for the PF ixgbe driver. It led to additional discrepancies, as the code provided within API 1.6 cannot be supported for Linux ixgbe driver as it causes crashes. The issue was noticed some time ago and mitigated by Jake within the commit d0725312adf5 ("ixgbevf: stop attempting IPSEC offload on Mailbox API 1.5"). As a result we have regression for IPsec support and after increasing API to version 1.6 ixgbevf driver stopped to support ESX MBX. To fix this mess add new mailbox op asking PF driver about supported features. Basing on a response determine whether to set support for IPSec and ESX-specific enhanced mailbox. New mailbox op, for compatibility purposes, must be added within new API revision, as API version of OOT PF & VF drivers is already increased to 1.6 and doesn't incorporate features negotiate op. Features negotiation mechanism gives possibility to be extended with new features when needed in the future. Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2e0aab9ddaf1428602c78f12064cd1e6ffcc4d18 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/871ac1cd4ce4804defcb428cbb003fd84c415ff4 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a376e29b1b196dc90b50df7e5e3947e3026300c4 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7075f501bd33c93570af759b6f4302ef0175168 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf580112ed61736c2645a893413a04732505d4b1