{ "dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.2", "cveMetadata": { "cveId": "CVE-2025-21954", "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "state": "PUBLISHED", "assignerShortName": "Linux", "dateReserved": "2024-12-29T08:45:45.790Z", "datePublished": "2025-04-01T15:46:55.226Z", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:55:34.681Z" }, "containers": { "cna": { "providerMetadata": { "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "shortName": "Linux", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:55:34.681Z" }, "descriptions": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnetmem: prevent TX of unreadable skbs\n\nCurrently on stable trees we have support for netmem/devmem RX but not\nTX. It is not safe to forward/redirect an RX unreadable netmem packet\ninto the device's TX path, as the device may call dma-mapping APIs on\ndma addrs that should not be passed to it.\n\nFix this by preventing the xmit of unreadable skbs.\n\nTested by configuring tc redirect:\n\nsudo tc qdisc add dev eth1 ingress\nsudo tc filter add dev eth1 ingress protocol ip prio 1 flower ip_proto \\\n\ttcp src_ip 192.168.1.12 action mirred egress redirect dev eth1\n\nBefore, I see unreadable skbs in the driver's TX path passed to dma\nmapping APIs.\n\nAfter, I don't see unreadable skbs in the driver's TX path passed to dma\nmapping APIs." } ], "metrics": [ { "cvssV3_1": { "version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "baseScore": 9.8, "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL" }, "scenarios": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "AV:N - The unreadable skb is created by the RX path from a packet sent by a remote peer into a dmabuf-bound RX queue, and the bug fires when that received packet is forwarded/bridged/redirected to egress (`ip_forward`/`br_forward`/`act_mirred` → `dev_queue_xmit` → `validate_xmit_skb`). The attacker's only action is transmitting network traffic to the host.\nAC:L - On a host in the affected configuration the trigger is fully deterministic — every forwarded devmem skb reaches `skb_frag_dma_map()` with a NULL page; there is no race window, timing dependency, or memory-layout requirement the attacker must win. `CONFIG_NET_DEVMEM` is `def_bool y`, and per CVSS the vulnerable runtime configuration is assumed rather than charged to complexity.\nPR:N - The remote sender needs no account, credential, or privilege on the target; ordinary unauthenticated packets landing on the devmem-bound queue and being forwarded are sufficient. The CAP_NET_ADMIN-gated `NETDEV_CMD_BIND_RX` is pre-existing admin setup, not something the attacker must perform.\nUI:N - No victim action is required — packet reception and kernel forwarding happen autonomously in softirq context. The devmem binding and forwarding/redirect rules are pre-existing system state, not an interaction solicited from a user.\nS:U - The bogus DMA mapping is programmed by the kernel itself and all consequences (crash, DMA fault, unintended memory access) land within the same host kernel's security authority. No guest/host, IOMMU-enforcement, or sandbox boundary is escaped by the vulnerability itself.\nC:H - The NIC is handed a DMA address derived from a NULL `struct page` that bears no relation to the intended buffer, so on the TX (device-read) path host memory outside any granted buffer can be fetched by the device and transmitted on the wire to the remote peer; the swiotlb path additionally `memcpy`s from `phys_to_virt()` of that garbage address into a bounce buffer that is then sent out.\nI:H - This is a DMA memory-safety violation: the kernel installs a mapping (and on IOMMU systems an active IOVA translation) for a physical range it never owned, and the subsequent `dma_sync`/`dma_unmap` and cache-maintenance operations act on that arbitrary physical range, so memory outside the intended buffer can be modified. Such device-DMA corruption is leveragable well beyond a simple crash.\nA:H - Outcomes include a kernel NULL dereference (`is_pci_p2pdma_page(NULL)`/`swiotlb_bounce()` on confidential-VM and bounce-buffer configurations), DMAR/AER fault storms and TX-ring wedging when the device aborts on the invalid address, and device reset or panic on platforms that escalate the PCIe error — all repeatable at will by continuing to send traffic." } ] } ], "affected": [ { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "unaffected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "net/core/dev.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "65249feb6b3df9e17bab5911ee56fa7b0971e231", "lessThan": "454825019d2f0c59e5174ece9e713f45ad80beff", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "65249feb6b3df9e17bab5911ee56fa7b0971e231", "lessThan": "1c17c8ced25c5fbe424c7ad7ea11d33014a986b1", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "65249feb6b3df9e17bab5911ee56fa7b0971e231", "lessThan": "f3600c867c99a2cc8038680ecf211089c50e7971", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" } ] }, { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "affected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "net/core/dev.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "6.12", "status": "affected" }, { "version": "0", "lessThan": "6.12", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.12.20", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.13.8", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.13.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.14", "lessThanOrEqual": "*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix" } ] } ], "cpeApplicability": [ { "nodes": [ { "operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [ { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.12", "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.20" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.12", "versionEndExcluding": "6.13.8" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.12", "versionEndExcluding": "6.14" } ] } ] } ], "references": [ { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/454825019d2f0c59e5174ece9e713f45ad80beff" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c17c8ced25c5fbe424c7ad7ea11d33014a986b1" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3600c867c99a2cc8038680ecf211089c50e7971" } ], "title": "netmem: prevent TX of unreadable skbs", "x_generator": { "engine": "bippy-1.2.0" } } } }