CVE-2025-38115: net_sched: sch_sfq: fix a potential crash on gso_skb handling

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-07-03 · updated 2026-10-15
Weakness: CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net_sched: sch_sfq: fix a potential crash on gso_skb handling SFQ has an assumption of always being able to queue at least one packet. However, after the blamed commit, sch->q.len can be inflated by packets in sch->gso_skb, and an enqueue() on an empty SFQ qdisc can be followed by an immediate drop. Fix sfq_drop() to properly clear q->tail in this situation. ip netns add lb ip link add dev to-lb type veth peer name in-lb netns lb ethtool -K to-lb tso off # force qdisc to requeue gso_skb ip netns exec lb ethtool -K in-lb gro on # enable NAPI ip link set dev to-lb up ip -netns lb link set dev in-lb up ip addr add dev to-lb 192.168.20.1/24 ip -netns lb addr add dev in-lb 192.168.20.2/24 tc qdisc replace dev to-lb root sfq limit 100 ip netns exec lb netserver netperf -H 192.168.20.2 -l 100 & netperf -H 192.168.20.2 -l 100 & netperf -H 192.168.20.2 -l 100 & netperf -H 192.168.20.2 -l 100 &

Affected products

Debian Linux: 11.0
Linux kernel: from 4.16 before 5.4.295; from 5.5 before 5.10.239; from 5.11 before 5.15.186; from 5.16 before 6.1.142; from 6.2 before 6.6.94; from 6.7 before 6.12.34 — fixed in 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 5.4.295, 6.1.142, 6.12.34, 6.15.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 5.4.295, 6.1.142. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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