[PATCH net-next 09/15] ixgbe: fix unaligned u32 access in ixgbe_update_flash_X550()

Jacob Keller
2026-05-01T06:38:37Z

From: Aleksandr Loktionov <aleksandr.loktionov@intel.com>

ixgbe_host_interface_command() treats its buffer as a u32 array. The
local buffer we pass in was a union of byte-sized fields, which gives
it 1-byte alignment on the stack. On strict-align architectures this
can cause unaligned 32-bit accesses.

Add a u32 member to union ixgbe_hic_hdr2 so the object is 4-byte
aligned, and pass the u32 member when calling
ixgbe_host_interface_command().

No functional change on x86; prevents unaligned accesses on
architectures that enforce natural alignment.

Fixes: 49425dfc7451 ("ixgbe: Add support for x550em_a 10G MAC type")
Signed-off-by: Aleksandr Loktionov <aleksandr.loktionov@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Jedrzej Jagielski <jedrzej.jagielski@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Paul Menzel <pmenzel@molgen.mpg.de>
Fixes: 6a14ee0cfb19 ("ixgbe: Add X550 support function pointers")
Tested-by: Rinitha S <sx.rinitha@intel.com>
Signed-off-by: Jacob Keller <jacob.e.keller@intel.com>
---
drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_type.h | 1 +
drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_x550.c | 2 +-
2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_type.h b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_type.h
index 01d0aa70b2b7..a461b6542f96 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_type.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_type.h
@@ -2798,6 +2798,7 @@ struct ixgbe_hic_hdr2_rsp {
};

union ixgbe_hic_hdr2 {
+ u32 buf[1];
struct ixgbe_hic_hdr2_req req;
struct ixgbe_hic_hdr2_rsp rsp;
};
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_x550.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_x550.c
index 76d2fa3ef518..4a0ccbf448a2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_x550.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ixgbe/ixgbe_x550.c
@@ -1228,7 +1228,7 @@ static int ixgbe_update_flash_X550(struct ixgbe_hw *hw)
buffer.req.buf_lenl = FW_SHADOW_RAM_DUMP_LEN;
buffer.req.checksum = FW_DEFAULT_CHECKSUM;

- status = ixgbe_host_interface_command(hw, &buffer, sizeof(buffer),
+ status = ixgbe_host_interface_command(hw, buffer.buf, sizeof(buffer),
IXGBE_HI_COMMAND_TIMEOUT, false);
return status;
}

--
2.54.0.rc2.531.gaf818d63126a