Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2025-39770

Medium · 5.5

CVSS

5.5

EPSS

0.4%

Published

Sep 11, 2025

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Next patch cycle SSVC: Track

A Linux networking bug can suddenly slow or stop network traffic on systems using certain IPv6 setups until the system is updated.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Low Privilege
Complexity
Low
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Denial of service
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Incorrectly requests IPv6 checksum offload for packets containing extension headers on devices limited to NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM, violating the feature contract and triggering skb_warn_bad_offload plus software fallback failure that collapses throughput.

Why it matters to the business

Sustained network throughput collapse on affected Linux systems during routine IPv6 traffic involving tunnels or extension headers, requiring urgent patching to restore normal operations.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker generates or forwards IPv6 traffic containing extension headers (for example via GREoIPv6 tunnels) that reaches the GSO path; the kernel then requests unsupported checksum offload from the device, producing the warning and forcing repeated software fallback that starves throughput.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that masks NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM, NETIF_F_TSO6 and NETIF_F_GSO_UDP_L4 when extension headers are present. The listed openssh/openssh-portable (GIT) package is unaffected; apply the corresponding kernel package update from your distribution.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the kernel version contains commit 627337d95bee7dd8d4690238a35fffd35072d1fa or later equivalent; reproduce IPv6 GSO traffic with extension headers and verify absence of skb_warn_bad_offload warnings and stable throughput.

Typical attack path

  1. Send or relay IPv6 packets with extension headers toward a vulnerable interface
  2. Trigger GSO segmentation on egress
  3. Kernel requests NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM offload despite extension headers
  4. Device cannot satisfy the request; skb_warn_bad_offload fires
  5. Network stack falls back repeatedly, collapsing throughput

How to detect it

Search kernel logs for skb_warn_bad_offload warnings, especially in paths involving ip6_tnl_xmit, ip6gre_tunnel_xmit or tcp_write_xmit; inspect skb linear dumps for IPv6 extension headers preceding TCP/UDP payloads.

  • skb_warn_bad_offload
  • WARNING: CPU.*skb_warn_bad_offload
  • ip6_tnl_xmit
  • ip6gre_tunnel_xmit
  • NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates on all systems exposing IPv6 tunnel or extension-header traffic
  • Monitor for skb_warn_bad_offload warnings in kernel logs as an immediate indicator of exposure
  • Temporarily disable TSO6 or GSO_UDP_L4 on affected interfaces if patching is delayed

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: gso: Forbid IPv6 TSO with extensions on devices with only IPV6_CSUM When performing Generic Segmentation Offload (GSO) on an IPv6 packet that contains extension headers, the kernel incorrectly requests checksum offload if the egress device only advertises NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM feature, which has a strict contract: it supports checksum offload only for plain TCP or UDP over IPv6 and explicitly does not support packets with extension headers. The current GSO logic violates this contract by failing to disable the feature for packets with extension headers, such as those used in GREoIPv6 tunnels. This violation results in the device being asked to perform an operation it cannot support, leading to a `skb_warn_bad_offload` warning and a collapse of network throughput. While device TSO/USO is correctly bypassed in favor of software GSO for these packets, the GSO stack must be explicitly told not to request checksum offload. Mask NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM, NETIF_F_TSO6 and NETIF_F_GSO_UDP_L4 in gso_features_check if the IPv6 header contains extension headers to compute checksum in software. The exception is a BIG TCP extension, which, as stated in commit 68e068cabd2c6c53 ("net: reenable NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM offload for BIG TCP packets"): "The feature is only enabled on devices that support BIG TCP TSO. The header is only present for PF_PACKET taps like tcpdump, and not transmitted by physical devices." kernel log output (truncated): WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 5273 at net/core/dev.c:3535 skb_warn_bad_offload+0x81/0x140 ... Call Trace: <TASK> skb_checksum_help+0x12a/0x1f0 validate_xmit_skb+0x1a3/0x2d0 validate_xmit_skb_list+0x4f/0x80 sch_direct_xmit+0x1a2/0x380 __dev_xmit_skb+0x242/0x670 __dev_queue_xmit+0x3fc/0x7f0 ip6_finish_output2+0x25e/0x5d0 ip6_finish_output+0x1fc/0x3f0 ip6_tnl_xmit+0x608/0xc00 [ip6_tunnel] ip6gre_tunnel_xmit+0x1c0/0x390 [ip6_gre] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x63/0x1c0 __dev_queue_xmit+0x6d0/0x7f0 ip6_finish_output2+0x214/0x5d0 ip6_finish_output+0x1fc/0x3f0 ip6_xmit+0x2ca/0x6f0 ip6_finish_output+0x1fc/0x3f0 ip6_xmit+0x2ca/0x6f0 inet6_csk_xmit+0xeb/0x150 __tcp_transmit_skb+0x555/0xa80 tcp_write_xmit+0x32a/0xe90 tcp_sendmsg_locked+0x437/0x1110 tcp_sendmsg+0x2f/0x50 ... skb linear: 00000000: e4 3d 1a 7d ec 30 e4 3d 1a 7e 5d 90 86 dd 60 0e skb linear: 00000010: 00 0a 1b 34 3c 40 20 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000020: 00 00 00 00 00 12 20 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000030: 00 00 00 00 00 11 2f 00 04 01 04 01 01 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000040: 86 dd 60 0e 00 0a 1b 00 06 40 20 23 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 12 20 23 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000060: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 11 bf 96 14 51 13 f9 skb linear: 00000070: ae 27 a0 a8 2b e3 80 18 00 40 5b 6f 00 00 01 01 skb linear: 00000080: 08 0a 42 d4 50 d5 4b 70 f8 1a

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 6.16.5-1
Linux Kernel 0 6.1.149
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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