CVE-2025-40290

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: avoid data corruption on cq descriptor number Since commit 30f241fcf52a ("xsk: Fix immature cq descriptor production"), the descriptor number is stored in skb control block and xsk_cq_submit_addr_locked() relies on it to put the umem addrs onto pool's completion queue. skb control block shouldn't be used for this purpose as after transmit xsk doesn't have control over it and other subsystems could use it. This leads to the following kernel panic due to a NULL pointer dereference. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 2 UID: 1 PID: 927 Comm: p4xsk.bin Not tainted 6.16.12+deb14-cloud-amd64 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) Debian 6.16.12-1 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:xsk_destruct_skb+0xd0/0x180 [...] Call Trace: <IRQ> ? napi_complete_done+0x7a/0x1a0 ip_rcv_core+0x1bb/0x340 ip_rcv+0x30/0x1f0 __netif_receive_skb_one_core+0x85/0xa0 process_backlog+0x87/0x130 __napi_poll+0x28/0x180 net_rx_action+0x339/0x420 handle_softirqs+0xdc/0x320 ? handle_edge_irq+0x90/0x1e0 do_softirq.part.0+0x3b/0x60 </IRQ> <TASK> __local_bh_enable_ip+0x60/0x70 __dev_direct_xmit+0x14e/0x1f0 __xsk_generic_xmit+0x482/0xb70 ? __remove_hrtimer+0x41/0xa0 ? __xsk_generic_xmit+0x51/0xb70 ? _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0xe/0x40 xsk_sendmsg+0xda/0x1c0 __sys_sendto+0x1ee/0x200 __x64_sys_sendto+0x24/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x84/0x2f0 ? __pfx_pollwake+0x10/0x10 ? __rseq_handle_notify_resume+0xad/0x4c0 ? restore_fpregs_from_fpstate+0x3c/0x90 ? switch_fpu_return+0x5b/0xe0 ? do_syscall_64+0x204/0x2f0 ? do_syscall_64+0x204/0x2f0 ? do_syscall_64+0x204/0x2f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e </TASK> [...] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt Kernel Offset: 0x1c000000 from 0xffffffff81000000 (relocation range: 0xffffffff80000000-0xffffffffbfffffff) Instead use the skb destructor_arg pointer along with pointer tagging. As pointers are always aligned to 8B, use the bottom bit to indicate whether this a single address or an allocated struct containing several addresses.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-12-08
Last modified 2026-04-15
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.16.8, 6.17 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.17.11, 6.18 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 6.16.8 ≥ 6.17
Fixed in
✓ 6.17.11 6.17.x ✓ 6.18

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-40290 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2025-40290?

    CVE-2025-40290 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.16.8 onward and has been patched in 6.17.11 and 6.18. CVE-2025-40290 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-40290?

    Yes — CVE-2025-40290 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.17.11 and 6.18. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16.8 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2025-40290 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2025-40290 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.