Regression in kernel 6.8.0-90: Broadcom NetXtreme-E 25Gb (bnxt_en) NIC lockup, network loss, fixed by driver reload

[Krzysztof Dudek-Kunicki]

After upgrading from Linux kernel 6.8.0-79-generic to 6.8.0-90-generic,
a Broadcom NetXtreme-E 25Gb NIC (driver: bnxt_en) experiences a runtime lockup.

Symptoms:
- All network connectivity on the host is lost (bond/VLAN remain UP)
- Physical interfaces stop forwarding traffic
- Reloading the driver (modprobe -r bnxt_en; modprobe bnxt_en) restores connectivity
- Reboot also restores connectivity

The issue does NOT occur on an identical host running kernel 6.8.0-79-generic
with identical hardware, firmware, and network configuration.

This appears to be a regression introduced in kernel 6.8.0-90 affecting bnxt_en.
Additional info: Host running ceph 20.2 as admin node with a lto of trafic in bond 802.3ad layer 3+4 with MLAG. it was warking fine past few months and other hosts with same ceph but oldker kernel works fine, this 3 other servers are 1:1 same as this with error on newer kernel

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: linux-image-6.8.0-90-generic 6.8.0-90.91
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-90.91-generic 6.8.12
Uname: Linux 6.8.0-90-generic x86_64
AlsaDevices:
 total 0
 crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 1 Jan 6 13:43 seq
 crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 33 Jan 6 13:43 timer
AplayDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'aplay'
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3.8
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'arecord'
AudioDevicesInUse: Error: command ['fuser', '-v', '/dev/snd/seq', '/dev/snd/timer'] failed with exit code 1:
CRDA: N/A
CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
Date: Wed Jan 7 18:06:55 2026
InstallationDate: Installed on 2025-05-15 (237 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 22.04.5 LTS "Jammy Jellyfish" - Release amd64 (20240911.4)
IwConfig: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'iwconfig'
MachineType: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. RS520A-E12-RS12U
PciMultimedia:

ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 TERM=xterm-256color
ProcFB: 0 astdrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-6.8.0-90-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv ro
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-6.8.0-90-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-6.8.0-90-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 20240318.git3b128b60-0ubuntu2.22
RfKill: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'rfkill'
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to noble on 2025-09-09 (120 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 09/25/2024
dmi.bios.release: 20.2
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 2002
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: K14PA-U24 Series
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: 60SB0B60-SB0A04
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 23
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.chassis.version: 13SF02G0AM0101
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr2002:bd09/25/2024:br20.2:svnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:pnRS520A-E12-RS12U:pvr00:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnK14PA-U24Series:rvr60SB0B60-SB0A04:cvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:ct23:cvr13SF02G0AM0101:skuSKU:
dmi.product.family: Server
dmi.product.name: RS520A-E12-RS12U
dmi.product.sku: SKU
dmi.product.version: 00
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.