CVE-2025-21708
NoneCVSS
—
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Feb 27, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A bug in how certain USB network adapters are handled inside the operating system kernel could cause warnings or network problems when the device is started, and updating the kernel removes the risk.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Local User
- Complexity
- Low
- Impact
- Denial Of Service
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Improper Input Validation
- Remediation
- Patch
- Effort
- Low
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
The flaw permits submission of USB URBs with mismatched endpoint types (pipe versus actual transfer type) in the rtl8150 driver without prior validation, allowing invalid control flow into usb_submit_urb and subsequent kernel warnings or instability.
Why it matters to the business
Systems relying on rtl8150-based USB Ethernet adapters may experience unexpected driver warnings, device initialization failures, or network instability during routine operations such as interface configuration, increasing downtime for affected hardware deployments.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker with local access or the ability to present a malformed USB device triggers the rtl8150_open path during device initialization or flag changes; this leads to an improperly typed URB being submitted, hitting the kernel warning in usb_submit_urb and potentially allowing further manipulation if additional flaws exist.
How to fix it
Update the Linux kernel to a version containing commit 431be4f78220d34ce21d67a6b843b7ca81bd82e9 or later stable releases that include the endpoint-type checks for bulk and interrupt endpoints; rebuild and deploy the updated kernel image on all affected systems.
How to confirm the fix worked
Confirm the presence of the endpoint validation logic in rtl8150_open and verify that usb_submit_urb calls for bulk and interrupt endpoints now perform type checks before submission; test interface activation on representative hardware to ensure the prior warning no longer occurs.
Typical attack path
- Attach or emulate an rtl8150 USB device
- Trigger network interface bring-up via ioctl or userspace tool such as dhcpcd
- Cause rtl8150_open to construct and submit URB without endpoint-type validation
- Reach usb_submit_urb with mismatched pipe type, generating warning and potential follow-on effects
How to detect it
Search kernel logs for the exact warning string 'BOGUS urb xfer, pipe' originating from usb_submit_urb combined with rtl8150_open call traces; inspect audit or system logs for unexpected USB device attach events followed by interface configuration failures.
- BOGUS urb xfer, pipe
- rtl8150_open+0x300
- usb_submit_urb+0xe4b
What your security team should do
- Prioritize kernel updates on any hosts exposing rtl8150 USB network hardware
- Monitor vendor advisories for backported fixes in distribution kernels
- Limit untrusted USB device attachment through policy or port control until patched
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: usb: rtl8150: enable basic endpoint checking Syzkaller reports [1] encountering a common issue of utilizing a wrong usb endpoint type during URB submitting stage. This, in turn, triggers a warning shown below. For now, enable simple endpoint checking (specifically, bulk and interrupt eps, testing control one is not essential) to mitigate the issue with a view to do other related cosmetic changes later, if they are necessary. [1] Syzkaller report: usb 1-1: BOGUS urb xfer, pipe 3 != type 1 WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 2586 at drivers/usb/core/urb.c:503 usb_submit_urb+0xe4b/0x1730 driv> Modules linked in: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 2586 Comm: dhcpcd Not tainted 6.11.0-rc4-syzkaller-00069-gfc88bb11617> Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 08/06/2024 RIP: 0010:usb_submit_urb+0xe4b/0x1730 drivers/usb/core/urb.c:503 Code: 84 3c 02 00 00 e8 05 e4 fc fc 4c 89 ef e8 fd 25 d7 fe 45 89 e0 89 e9 4c 89 f2 48 8> RSP: 0018:ffffc9000441f740 EFLAGS: 00010282 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff888112487a00 RCX: ffffffff811a99a9 RDX: ffff88810df6ba80 RSI: ffffffff811a99b6 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: 0000000000000003 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000001 R13: ffff8881023bf0a8 R14: ffff888112452a20 R15: ffff888112487a7c FS: 00007fc04eea5740(0000) GS:ffff8881f6300000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f0a1de9f870 CR3: 000000010dbd0000 CR4: 00000000003506f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> rtl8150_open+0x300/0xe30 drivers/net/usb/rtl8150.c:733 __dev_open+0x2d4/0x4e0 net/core/dev.c:1474 __dev_change_flags+0x561/0x720 net/core/dev.c:8838 dev_change_flags+0x8f/0x160 net/core/dev.c:8910 devinet_ioctl+0x127a/0x1f10 net/ipv4/devinet.c:1177 inet_ioctl+0x3aa/0x3f0 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:1003 sock_do_ioctl+0x116/0x280 net/socket.c:1222 sock_ioctl+0x22e/0x6c0 net/socket.c:1341 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:893 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x193/0x220 fs/ioctl.c:893 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x250 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fc04ef73d49 ... This change has not been tested on real hardware.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:11 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:11 | linux-6.1 | 0 | 6.1.129-1~deb11u1 |
| Debian:12 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | 6.12.13-1 |
| Linux | Kernel | 2.6.12 | 5.4.291 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 | kernel-default | 0 | 4.12.14-122.255.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 | kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_67 | 0 | 1-8.5.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_10 | 0 | 1-150600.1.5.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_10 | 0 | 1-150600.13.5.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2.150600.12.20.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-coco | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-coco_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-source-coco | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-coco | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.34.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.34.2 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.34.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS | kernel-default | 0 | 4.12.14-122.255.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS | kernel-source | 0 | 4.12.14-122.255.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS | kernel-syms | 0 | 4.12.14-122.255.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | kernel-default | 0 | 4.12.14-122.255.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | kernel-source | 0 | 4.12.14-122.255.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | kernel-syms | 0 | 4.12.14-122.255.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| Ubuntu:24.10 | linux-aws | 0 | 6.11.0-1014.15 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.34.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2.150600.12.20.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.34.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.34.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.34.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.47.2 |
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