CVE-2025-21629

MEDIUMCVSS 5.5/10EPSS 0.21%

Last modified

CVE-2025-21629 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.5/10 on the CVSS scale. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: reenable NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM offload for BIG TCP packets The blamed commit disabled hardware offoad of IPv6 packets with extension headers on devices that advertise NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM, based on the definition of that feature in skbuff.h: * * - %NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM * - Driver (device) is only able to checksum plain * TCP or UDP packets over IPv6. These are specifically * unencapsulated packets of the form IPv6|TCP or * IPv6|UDP where the Next Header field in the IPv6 * header is either TCP or UDP. EPSS estimates a 0.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: reenable NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM offload for BIG TCP packets The blamed commit disabled hardware offoad of IPv6 packets with extension headers on devices that advertise NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM, based on the definition of that feature in skbuff.h: * * - %NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM * - Driver (device) is only able to checksum plain * TCP or UDP packets over IPv6. These are specifically * unencapsulated packets of the form IPv6|TCP or * IPv6|UDP where the Next Header field in the IPv6 * header is either TCP or UDP. IPv6 extension headers * are not supported with this feature. This feature * cannot be set in features for a device with * NETIF_F_HW_CSUM also set. This feature is being * DEPRECATED (see below). The change causes skb_warn_bad_offload to fire for BIG TCP packets. [ 496.310233] WARNING: CPU: 13 PID: 23472 at net/core/dev.c:3129 skb_warn_bad_offload+0xc4/0xe0 [ 496.310297] ? skb_warn_bad_offload+0xc4/0xe0 [ 496.310300] skb_checksum_help+0x129/0x1f0 [ 496.310303] skb_csum_hwoffload_help+0x150/0x1b0 [ 496.310306] validate_xmit_skb+0x159/0x270 [ 496.310309] validate_xmit_skb_list+0x41/0x70 [ 496.310312] sch_direct_xmit+0x5c/0x250 [ 496.310317] __qdisc_run+0x388/0x620 BIG TCP introduced an IPV6_TLV_JUMBO IPv6 extension header to communicate packet length, as this is an IPv6 jumbogram. But, 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. For this specific case of extension headers that are not transmitted, return to the situation before the blamed commit and support hardware offload. ipv6_has_hopopt_jumbo() tests not only whether this header is present, but also that it is the only extension header before a terminal (L4) header.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
5.5/10

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

EPSS Probability
0.21%

10.9th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

VendorProductVersionsUpdate
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 4.19.323, < 4.20
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.4.285, < 5.5
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.10.229, < 5.11
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.15.171, < 5.16
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.1.116, < 6.1.124
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.6.60, < 6.6.70
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.11.7, < 6.12
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.12.1, < 6.12.9
LinuxLinux Kernel6.12
LinuxLinux Kernel6.13Rc1

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21629?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: reenable NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM offload for BIG TCP packets The blamed commit disabled hardware offoad of IPv6 packets with extension headers on devices that advertise NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM, based on the definition of that feature in skbuff.h: * * - %NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM * - Driver (device) is only able to checksum plain * TCP or UDP packets over IPv6. These are specifically * unencapsulated packets of the form IPv6|TCP or * IPv6|UDP where the Next Header field in the IPv6 * header is either TCP or UDP. IPv6 extension headers * are not supported with this feature. This feature * cannot be set in features for a device with * NETIF_F_HW_CSUM also set. This feature is being * DEPRECATED (see below). The change causes skb_warn_bad_offload to fire for BIG TCP packets. [ 496.310233] WARNING: CPU: 13 PID: 23472 at net/core/dev.c:3129 skb_warn_bad_offload+0xc4/0xe0 [ 496.310297] ? skb_warn_bad_offload+0xc4/0xe0 [ 496.310300] skb_checksum_help+0x129/0x1f0 [ 496.310303] skb_csum_hwoffload_help+0x150/0x1b0 [ 496.310306] validate_xmit_skb+0x159/0x270 [ 496.310309] validate_xmit_skb_list+0x41/0x70 [ 496.310312] sch_direct_xmit+0x5c/0x250 [ 496.310317] __qdisc_run+0x388/0x620 BIG TCP introduced an IPV6_TLV_JUMBO IPv6 extension header to communicate packet length, as this is an IPv6 jumbogram. But, 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. For this specific case of extension headers that are not transmitted, return to the situation before the blamed commit and support hardware offload. ipv6_has_hopopt_jumbo() tests not only whether this header is present, but also that it is the only extension header before a terminal (L4) header.
How severe is CVE-2025-21629?
CVE-2025-21629 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.21% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-21629?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST