Introduction
Privilege escalation on enterprise Linux servers can enable attackers to bypass security controls and gain root access, impacting data center operations and cloud workloads. The recent disclosure of CVE-2025-24486 highlights a significant risk in Intel's 700 Series Ethernet Linux drivers, which are widely deployed in critical infrastructure and business environments.
Intel is a leading global manufacturer of networking and compute hardware, with its 700 Series Ethernet controllers powering a substantial share of enterprise servers, storage appliances, and cloud platforms. The i40e Linux kernel driver, central to this vulnerability, is a core component in many production environments.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-24486 is a privilege escalation vulnerability rooted in improper input validation (CWE-20) within the Linux kernel-mode driver (i40e) for Intel 700 Series Ethernet controllers. The vulnerability affects driver versions prior to 2.28.5. When the driver processes certain network-related data or configuration parameters, it fails to sufficiently validate the input's format, size, or content. This oversight allows an authenticated local user to supply specially crafted input, which can trigger memory corruption or unintended control flow within the kernel driver. As a result, the attacker may escalate privileges, potentially gaining root-level access on the system.
The vulnerability is specific to Linux systems running the affected Intel Ethernet hardware and driver versions. No public code snippet or exploit is available for this issue. The root cause is a lack of comprehensive input validation in the driver's handling of user-supplied data, a recurring pattern in kernel-mode vulnerabilities.
Patch Information
To address CVE-2025-24486, Intel has released version 2.28.5 of the 700 Series Ethernet Linux driver. This update includes:
- Enhanced input validation to block privilege escalation attempts
- Improved control flow management
- Fixes for uncontrolled resource consumption
All users of Intel 700 Series Ethernet hardware on Linux must upgrade to version 2.28.5 or later. The update is available from Intel's official advisory and download channels.
Reference: https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-01335.html
Affected Systems and Versions
- Intel 700 Series Ethernet controllers (including I710, X710, XL710, XXV710, V710, X722)
- Linux systems using the i40e kernel-mode driver
- Affected driver versions: All versions prior to 2.28.5
- Vulnerable configurations: Any Linux system with the above hardware and a driver version below 2.28.5
Vendor Security History
Intel has previously addressed privilege escalation vulnerabilities in its Ethernet driver products, as seen in advisories INTEL-SA-01293 and INTEL-SA-01295. The company generally provides timely patches and detailed technical documentation. The recurrence of input validation issues in this product area suggests ongoing challenges in securing complex kernel-mode drivers, but Intel's response demonstrates a mature vulnerability management process.