CVE-2025-21702 - CVE House
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Status published High CVE-2025-21702

pfifo_tail_enqueue: Drop new packet when sch->limit == 0

Vulnerability Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pfifo_tail_enqueue: Drop new packet when sch->limit == 0 Expected behaviour: In case we reach scheduler's limit, pfifo_tail_enqueue() will drop a packet in scheduler's queue and decrease scheduler's qlen by one. Then, pfifo_tail_enqueue() enqueue new packet and increase scheduler's qlen by one. Finally, pfifo_tail_enqueue() return `NET_XMIT_CN` status code. Weird behaviour: In case we set `sch->limit == 0` and trigger pfifo_tail_enqueue() on a scheduler that has no packet, the 'drop a packet' step will do nothing. This means the scheduler's qlen still has value equal 0. Then, we continue to enqueue new packet and increase scheduler's qlen by one. In summary, we can leverage pfifo_tail_enqueue() to increase qlen by one and return `NET_XMIT_CN` status code. The problem is: Let's say we have two qdiscs: Qdisc_A and Qdisc_B. - Qdisc_A's type must have '->graft()' function to create parent/child relationship. Let's say Qdisc_A's type is `hfsc`. Enqueue packet to this qdisc will trigger `hfsc_enqueue`. - Qdisc_B's type is pfifo_head_drop. Enqueue packet to this qdisc will trigger `pfifo_tail_enqueue`. - Qdisc_B is configured to have `sch->limit == 0`. - Qdisc_A is configured to route the enqueued's packet to Qdisc_B. Enqueue packet through Qdisc_A will lead to: - hfsc_enqueue(Qdisc_A) -> pfifo_tail_enqueue(Qdisc_B) - Qdisc_B->q.qlen += 1 - pfifo_tail_enqueue() return `NET_XMIT_CN` - hfsc_enqueue() check for `NET_XMIT_SUCCESS` and see `NET_XMIT_CN` => hfsc_enqueue() don't increase qlen of Qdisc_A. The whole process lead to a situation where Qdisc_A->q.qlen == 0 and Qdisc_B->q.qlen == 1. Replace 'hfsc' with other type (for example: 'drr') still lead to the same problem. This violate the design where parent's qlen should equal to the sum of its childrens'qlen. Bug impact: This issue can be used for user->kernel privilege escalation when it is reachable.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

No credits recorded in the NVD database.

Affected Vendor

Affected Software

Linux
Vulnerable Versions:
57dbb2d83d100ea601c54fe129bfde0678db5dee, 2.6.34, 0, 5.4.291, 5.10.235, 5.15.179, 6.1.130, 6.6.83, 6.12.14, 6.13.3, 6.14

Timeline

Official Publish: February 18th, 2025
Last Modified: July 14th, 2026
Added to House: July 22nd, 2026

CVSS Vectors

V3: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weaknesses (CWE)

No CWE data available

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

No associated TTPs found for this vulnerability.