In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
usb: gadget: ncm: Avoid dropping datagrams of properly parsed NTBs
It is observed sometimes when tethering is used over NCM with Windows 11 as host, at some instances, the gadget_giveback has one byte appended at the end of a proper NTB. When the NTB is parsed, unwrap call looks for any leftover bytes in SKB provided by u_ether and if there are any pending bytes, it treats them as a separate NTB and parses it. But in case the second NTB (as per unwrap call) is faulty/corrupt, all the datagrams that were parsed properly in the first NTB and saved in rx_list are dropped.
Adding a few custom traces showed the following: [002] d..1 7828.532866: dwc3_gadget_giveback: ep1out: req 000000003868811a length 1025/16384 zsI ==> 0 [002] d..1 7828.532867: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: ncm_unwrap_ntb toprocess: 1025 [002] d..1 7828.532867: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: ncm_unwrap_ntb nth: 1751999342 [002] d..1 7828.532868: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: ncm_unwrap_ntb seq: 0xce67 [002] d..1 7828.532868: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: ncm_unwrap_ntb blk_len: 0x400 [002] d..1 7828.532868: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: ncm_unwrap_ntb ndp_len: 0x10 [002] d..1 7828.532869: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: Parsed NTB with 1 frames
In this case, the giveback is of 1025 bytes and block length is 1024. The rest 1 byte (which is 0x00) won't be parsed resulting in drop of all datagrams in rx_list.
Same is case with packets of size 2048: [002] d..1 7828.557948: dwc3_gadget_giveback: ep1out: req 0000000011dfd96e length 2049/16384 zsI ==> 0 [002] d..1 7828.557949: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: ncm_unwrap_ntb nth: 1751999342 [002] d..1 7828.557950: ncm_unwrap_ntb: K: ncm_unwrap_ntb blk_len: 0x800
Lecroy shows one byte coming in extra confirming that the byte is coming in from PC:
Transfer 2959 - Bytes Transferred(1025) Timestamp((18.524 843 590)
According to Windows driver, no ZLP is needed if wBlockLength is non-zero, because the non-zero wBlockLength has already told the function side the size of transfer to be expected. However, there are in-market NCM devices that rely on ZLP as long as the wBlockLength is multiple of wMaxPacketSize. To deal with such devices, it pads an extra 0 at end so the transfer is no longer multiple of wMaxPacketSize.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.8-rc1 | 6.8-rc1.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.16 | 6.1.80 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.11 | 5.15.150 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.8-rc3 | 6.8-rc3.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.8-rc4 | 6.8-rc4.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.8-rc2 | 6.8-rc2.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 2.6.38 | 4.19.308 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 4.20 | 5.4.270 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.5 | 5.10.211 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.2 | 6.6.19 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.7 | 6.7.7 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.8-rc5 | 6.8-rc5.x |
| debian / debian_linux | 10.0 | 10.0.x |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
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Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
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