CVE-2025-39874

macsec: sync features on RTM_NEWLINK

State
Published
Severity
5.5 Medium
Published
Sep 23, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Reserved
Apr 16, 2025

Read the record on cve.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

macsec: sync features on RTM_NEWLINK

Syzkaller managed to lock the lower device via ETHTOOL_SFEATURES:

netdev_lock include/linux/netdevice.h:2761 [inline] netdev_lock_ops include/net/netdev_lock.h:42 [inline] netdev_sync_lower_features net/core/dev.c:10649 [inline] __netdev_update_features+0xcb1/0x1be0 net/core/dev.c:10819 netdev_update_features+0x6d/0xe0 net/core/dev.c:10876 macsec_notify+0x2f5/0x660 drivers/net/macsec.c:4533 notifier_call_chain+0x1b3/0x3e0 kernel/notifier.c:85 call_netdevice_notifiers_extack net/core/dev.c:2267 [inline] call_netdevice_notifiers net/core/dev.c:2281 [inline] netdev_features_change+0x85/0xc0 net/core/dev.c:1570 __dev_ethtool net/ethtool/ioctl.c:3469 [inline] dev_ethtool+0x1536/0x19b0 net/ethtool/ioctl.c:3502 dev_ioctl+0x392/0x1150 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:759

It happens because lower features are out of sync with the upper:

__dev_ethtool (real_dev) netdev_lock_ops(real_dev) ETHTOOL_SFEATURES __netdev_features_change netdev_sync_upper_features disable LRO on the lower if (old_features != dev->features) netdev_features_change fires NETDEV_FEAT_CHANGE macsec_notify NETDEV_FEAT_CHANGE netdev_update_features (for each macsec dev) netdev_sync_lower_features if (upper_features != lower_features) netdev_lock_ops(lower) # lower == real_dev stuck ...

netdev_unlock_ops(real_dev)

Per commit af5f54b0ef9e ("net: Lock lower level devices when updating features"), we elide the lock/unlock when the upper and lower features are synced. Makes sure the lower (real_dev) has proper features after the macsec link has been created. This makes sure we never hit the situation where we need to sync upper flags to the lower.

Scores

CVSSScoreVectorSource
3.15.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HCISA-ADP

Weaknesses

The record names no weakness.

Affected Products

ProductVersions
LinuxLinux
  • 7e4d784f5810bba76c4593791028e13cce4af547 to before d7624629ccf47135c65fef0701fa0d9a115b87f3Affected
  • 7e4d784f5810bba76c4593791028e13cce4af547 to before 0f82c3ba66c6b2e3cde0f255156a753b108ee9dcAffected
LinuxLinux
  • 6.15Affected
  • before 6.15Not affected
  • 6.16.8 through 6.16.*Not affected
  • 6.17 and laterNot affected

References

Every record here comes from the CVE Program’s CVE List. © 1999–2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. The records are reproduced under the CVE Program terms of use.