Vulnerability record · CVE-2025-40159 · published 12 November 2025
CVE-2025-40159: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: Harden userspace-supplied xdp_desc v…
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: Harden userspace-supplied xdp_desc validation Turned out certain clearly invalid values passed in xdp_desc from userspace can pass xp_{,un}aligned_validate_desc() and then lead to UBs or just invalid frames to be queued for xmit. desc->len close to ``U32_MAX`` with a non-zero pool->tx_metadata_len can cause positive integer overflow and wraparound, the same way low enough desc->addr with a non-zero pool->tx_metadata_len can cause negative integer overflow. Both scenarios can then pass the validation successfully. This doesn't happen with valid XSk applications, but can be used to perform attacks. Always promote desc->len to ``u64`` first to exclude positive overflows of it. Use explicit check_{add,sub}_overflow() when validating desc->addr (which is ``u64`` already). bloat-o-meter reports a little growth of the code size: add/remove: 0/0 grow/shrink: 2/1 up/down: 60/-16 (44) Function old new delta xskq_cons_peek_desc 299 330 +31 xsk_tx_peek_release_desc_batch 973 1002 +29 xsk_generic_xmit 3148 3132 -16 but hopefully this doesn't hurt the performance much.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: Harden userspace-supplied xdp_desc validation Turned out certain clearly invalid values passed in xdp_desc from userspace can pass xp_{,un}aligned_validate_desc() and then lead to UBs or just invalid frames to be queued for xmit. desc->len close to ``U32_MAX`` with a non-zero pool->tx_metadata_len can cause positive integer overflow and wraparound, the same way low enough desc->addr with a non-zero pool->tx_metadata_len can cause negative integer overflow. Both scenarios can then pass the validation successfully. This doesn't happen with valid XSk applications, but can be used to perform attacks. Always promote desc->len to ``u64`` first to exclude positive overflows of it. Use explicit check_{add,sub}_overflow() when validating desc->addr (which is ``u64`` already). bloat-o-meter reports a little growth of the code size: add/remove: 0/0 grow/shrink: 2/1 up/down: 60/-16 (44) Function old new delta xskq_cons_peek_desc 299 330 +31 xsk_tx_peek_release_desc_batch 973 1002 +29 xsk_generic_xmit 3148 3132 -16 but hopefully this doesn't hurt the performance much.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2025-40159), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.
