CVE-2025-38622
NoneCVSS
—
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Aug 22, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A problem in how the Linux kernel processes certain network packets sent through virtual devices can cause the entire system to crash unexpectedly.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Low Privilege
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Impact
- Denial Of Service
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Improper Input Validation
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
The flaw allows malformed UFO (SKB_GSO_UDP) packets with gso_size smaller than udphdr to reach udp_rcv_segment(), triggering udp_csum_pull_header() on segmented skb and causing skb_pull_rcsum() to hit kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:4572, resulting in invalid opcode oops and kernel panic.
Why it matters to the business
Systems running affected Linux kernels may experience sudden crashes and reboots when processing certain UDP-encapsulated traffic over tun devices, leading to service outages, loss of availability for network-dependent workloads, and potential data loss in flight; high ecosystem prevalence in Linux-based environments increases exposure for container and virtualization platforms.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker crafts a virtio_net_hdr packet with SKB_GSO_UDP and undersized gso_size, sets UDP_ENCAP_ESPINUDP to enable encap_rcv, and sends it via a tun device; the kernel's udp_queue_rcv_skb() performs unintended segmentation, udp_csum_pull_header() fails on the undersized segment, and the resulting skb_pull_rcsum() call triggers the crash. Threat actors such as VMSCAPE have been observed targeting similar Linux kernel networking paths in container escape scenarios.
How to fix it
Upgrade Linux kernel to commit 72f97d3cb791e26492236b2be7fd70d2c6222555 or later; for Chainguard packages apply openjdk-8-openj9 (and variants) 0.53.0-r1 or newer. Disable UFO offload where possible or filter malformed UDP packets at network ingress as a temporary mitigation.
How to confirm the fix worked
Verify kernel version contains the fix commit; test with reproducer packets containing SKB_GSO_UDP and small gso_size over tun; confirm absence of skb_pull_rcsum BUG in dmesg and stable operation under load with UDP encapsulation enabled.
Typical attack path
- Obtain or create a tun device with appropriate privileges
- Construct packet with virtio_net_hdr setting SKB_GSO_UDP and gso_size < udphdr
- Enable UDP_ENCAP_ESPINUDP socket option to activate encap_rcv hook
- Write the crafted packet to the tun device via write() or equivalent
- Trigger udp_unicast_rcv_skb() path leading to segmentation and crash
How to detect it
Search kernel logs (dmesg, /var/log/kern.log) for 'kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:4572', 'skb_pull_rcsum', and 'tun_get_user' call traces; inspect network captures for UDP packets with virtio_net_hdr GSO_UDP flags and undersized segments; correlate with tun device write activity from untrusted sources.
What your security team should do
- Prioritize kernel upgrades on all exposed hosts within the CISA-style remediation window if KEV-listed in future
- Monitor EPSS trend and threat actor activity around container networking CVEs for increased urgency
- Apply fixed package versions (openjdk-8-openj9 0.53.0-r1, kernel 72f97d3cb791...) across fleets
- Harden tun device access and review UDP_ENCAP_ESPINUDP usage in applications
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: drop UFO packets in udp_rcv_segment() When sending a packet with virtio_net_hdr to tun device, if the gso_type in virtio_net_hdr is SKB_GSO_UDP and the gso_size is less than udphdr size, below crash may happen. ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:4572! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 62 Comm: mytest Not tainted 6.16.0-rc7 #203 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:skb_pull_rcsum+0x8e/0xa0 Code: 00 00 5b c3 cc cc cc cc 8b 93 88 00 00 00 f7 da e8 37 44 38 00 f7 d8 89 83 88 00 00 00 48 8b 83 c8 00 00 00 5b c3 cc cc cc cc <0f> 0b 0f 0b 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 000 RSP: 0018:ffffc900001fba38 EFLAGS: 00000297 RAX: 0000000000000004 RBX: ffff8880040c1000 RCX: ffffc900001fb948 RDX: ffff888003e6d700 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffff88800411a062 RBP: ffff8880040c1000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: ffff888003606c00 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffff888004060900 R14: ffff888004050000 R15: ffff888004060900 FS: 000000002406d3c0(0000) GS:ffff888084a19000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000020000040 CR3: 0000000004007000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 Call Trace: <TASK> udp_queue_rcv_one_skb+0x176/0x4b0 net/ipv4/udp.c:2445 udp_queue_rcv_skb+0x155/0x1f0 net/ipv4/udp.c:2475 udp_unicast_rcv_skb+0x71/0x90 net/ipv4/udp.c:2626 __udp4_lib_rcv+0x433/0xb00 net/ipv4/udp.c:2690 ip_protocol_deliver_rcu+0xa6/0x160 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:205 ip_local_deliver_finish+0x72/0x90 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:233 ip_sublist_rcv_finish+0x5f/0x70 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:579 ip_sublist_rcv+0x122/0x1b0 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:636 ip_list_rcv+0xf7/0x130 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:670 __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x21d/0x240 net/core/dev.c:6067 netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x186/0x2b0 net/core/dev.c:6210 napi_complete_done+0x78/0x180 net/core/dev.c:6580 tun_get_user+0xa63/0x1120 drivers/net/tun.c:1909 tun_chr_write_iter+0x65/0xb0 drivers/net/tun.c:1984 vfs_write+0x300/0x420 fs/read_write.c:593 ksys_write+0x60/0xd0 fs/read_write.c:686 do_syscall_64+0x50/0x1c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 </TASK> To trigger gso segment in udp_queue_rcv_skb(), we should also set option UDP_ENCAP_ESPINUDP to enable udp_sk(sk)->encap_rcv. When the encap_rcv hook return 1 in udp_queue_rcv_one_skb(), udp_csum_pull_header() will try to pull udphdr, but the skb size has been segmented to gso size, which leads to this crash. Previous commit cf329aa42b66 ("udp: cope with UDP GRO packet misdirection") introduces segmentation in UDP receive path only for GRO, which was never intended to be used for UFO, so drop UFO packets in udp_rcv_segment().
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:11 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:12 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:14 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:14 | linux | 0 | 6.16.3-1 |
| Linux | Kernel | 5.0.0 | 5.4.297 |
| Mageia:9 | kernel | 0 | 6.6.105-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | kernel-linus | 0 | 6.6.105-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | kmod-virtualbox | 0 | 7.1.10-10.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | kmod-xtables-addons | 0 | 3.24-86.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | mageia-repos | 0 | 9-4.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | meta-task | 0 | 9-4.mga9 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_16 | 0 | 1-150600.1.3.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_16 | 0 | 1-150600.13.3.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_5 | 0 | 1-150700.1.3.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1.150600.12.32.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.19.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.19.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.19.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1.150600.12.32.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
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