published November 12, 2025
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: usb: asix: hold PM usage ref to avoid PM/MDIO + RTNL deadlock
Prevent USB runtime PM (autosuspend) for AX88772* in bind.
usbnet enables runtime PM (autosuspend) by default, so disabling it via
the usb_driver flag is ineffective. On AX88772B, autosuspend shows no
measurable power saving with current driver (no link partner, admin
up/down). The ~0.453 W -> ~0.248 W drop on v6.1 comes from phylib powering
the PHY off on admin-down, not from USB autosuspend.
The real hazard is that with runtime PM enabled, ndo_open() (under RTNL)
may synchronously trigger autoresume (usb_autopm_get_interface()) into
asix_resume() while the USB PM lock is held. Resume paths then invoke
phylink/phylib and MDIO, which also expect RTNL, leading to possible
deadlocks or PM lock vs MDIO wake issues.
To avoid this, keep the device runtime-PM active by taking a usage
reference in ax88772_bind() and dropping it in unbind(). A non-zero PM
usage count blocks runtime suspend regardless of userspace policy
(.../power/control - pm_runtime_allow/forbid), making this approach
robust against sysfs overrides.
Holding a runtime-PM usage ref does not affect system-wide suspend;
system sleep/resume callbacks continue to run as before.