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HIGH

octeontx2 SQM Deadlock

CVE-2026-43296

CVSS 7.5 / 10.0 NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

KernelScan AI7.5HIGH

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeontx2-af: Workaround SQM/PSE stalls by disabling sticky NIX SQ manager sticky mode is known to cause stalls when multiple SQs share an SMQ and transmit concurrently. Additionally, PSE may deadlock on transitions between sticky and non-sticky transmissions. There is also a credit drop issue observed when certain condition clocks are gated. work around these hardware errata by: - Disabling SQM sticky operation: - Clear TM6 (bit 15) - Clear TM11 (bit 14) - Disabling sticky → non-sticky transition path that can deadlock PSE: - Clear TM5 (bit 23) - Preventing credit drops by keeping the control-flow clock enabled: - Set TM9 (bit 21) These changes are applied via NIX_AF_SQM_DBG_CTL_STATUS. With this configuration the SQM/PSE maintain forward progress under load without credit loss, at the cost of disabling sticky optimizations.

02

Engine v0.2.0

Risk summary

OcteonTX2 network processors can experience hardware deadlocks and stalls in the SQ manager and packet send engine when handling concurrent network transmissions. This causes complete network interface failure and denial of service. The vulnerability affects network appliances and servers using Marvell OcteonTX2 chips.

Affecteddrivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/af/rvu_nix.c (OcteonTX2 network processor)

Vulnerability analysis

The OcteonTX2 NIX hardware has multiple errata where the SQ manager's sticky mode causes stalls when multiple send queues share an SMQ during concurrent transmission, the PSE can deadlock during sticky/non-sticky transitions, and credit drops occur when condition clocks are gated. The fix works around these hardware bugs by disabling sticky operations and keeping control clocks enabled via NIX_AF_SQM_DBG_CTL_STATUS register configuration. This can be triggered remotely through network traffic that causes concurrent SQ usage.

03

BranchFixed inPatch commit
5.105.10.2529a3fd3013294
5.155.15.202d0b3c8a80336
6.16.1.16536cc5a5e0178
6.126.12.75cec2ceb35ce7
6.186.18.168052d0587fb1
6.196.19.6b7eba260a34e
6.66.6.128d9b549b6951b
mainline7.070e9a5760abf