CVE-2025-38640 — linux / linux_kernel
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Disable migration in nf_hook_run_bpf().
syzbot reported that the netfilter bpf prog can be called without migration disabled in xmit path.
Then the assertion in __bpf_prog_run() fails, triggering the splat below. [0]
Let's use bpf_prog_run_pin_on_cpu() in nf_hook_run_bpf().
[0]: BUG: assuming non migratable context at ./include/linux/filter.h:703 in_atomic(): 0, irqs_disabled(): 0, migration_disabled() 0 pid: 5829, name: sshd-session 3 locks held by sshd-session/5829: #0: ffff88807b4e4218 (sk_lock-AF_INET){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1667 [inline] #0: ffff88807b4e4218 (sk_lock-AF_INET){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: tcp_sendmsg+0x20/0x50 net/ipv4/tcp.c:1395 #1: ffffffff8e5c4e00 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:3}, at: rcu_lock_acquire include/linux/rcupdate.h:331 [inline] #1: ffffffff8e5c4e00 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:3}, at: rcu_read_lock include/linux/rcupdate.h:841 [inline] #1: ffffffff8e5c4e00 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:3}, at: __ip_queue_xmit+0x69/0x26c0 net/ipv4/ip_output.c:470 #2: ffffffff8e5c4e00 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:3}, at: rcu_lock_acquire include/linux/rcupdate.h:331 [inline] #2: ffffffff8e5c4e00 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:3}, at: rcu_read_lock include/linux/rcupdate.h:841 [inline] #2: ffffffff8e5c4e00 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:3}, at: nf_hook+0xb2/0x680 include/linux/netfilter.h:241 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5829 Comm: sshd-session Not tainted 6.16.0-rc6-syzkaller-00002-g155a3c003e55 #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x16c/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 __cant_migrate kernel/sched/core.c:8860 [inline] __cant_migrate+0x1c7/0x250 kernel/sched/core.c:8834 __bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:703 [inline] bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:725 [inline] nf_hook_run_bpf+0x83/0x1e0 net/netfilter/nf_bpf_link.c:20 nf_hook_entry_hookfn include/linux/netfilter.h:157 [inline] nf_hook_slow+0xbb/0x200 net/netfilter/core.c:623 nf_hook+0x370/0x680 include/linux/netfilter.h:272 NF_HOOK_COND include/linux/netfilter.h:305 [inline] ip_output+0x1bc/0x2a0 net/ipv4/ip_output.c:433 dst_output include/net/dst.h:459 [inline] ip_local_out net/ipv4/ip_output.c:129 [inline] __ip_queue_xmit+0x1d7d/0x26c0 net/ipv4/ip_output.c:527 __tcp_transmit_skb+0x2686/0x3e90 net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:1479 tcp_transmit_skb net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:1497 [inline] tcp_write_xmit+0x1274/0x84e0 net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:2838 __tcp_push_pending_frames+0xaf/0x390 net/ipv4/tcp_output.c:3021 tcp_push+0x225/0x700 net/ipv4/tcp.c:759 tcp_sendmsg_locked+0x1870/0x42b0 net/ipv4/tcp.c:1359 tcp_sendmsg+0x2e/0x50 net/ipv4/tcp.c:1396 inet_sendmsg+0xb9/0x140 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:851 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:712 [inline] __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:727 [inline] sock_write_iter+0x4aa/0x5b0 net/socket.c:1131 new_sync_write fs/read_write.c:593 [inline] vfs_write+0x6c7/0x1150 fs/read_write.c:686 ksys_write+0x1f8/0x250 fs/read_write.c:738 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x4c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fe7d365d407 Code: 48 89 fa 4c 89 df e8 38 aa 00 00 8b 93 08 03 00 00 59 5e 48 83 f8 fc 74 1a 5b c3 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 48 8b 44 24 10 0f 05 <5b> c3 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 83 e2 39 83 fa 08 75 de e8 23 ff ff ff RSP:
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.4 | 6.6.102 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.7 | 6.12.42 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.13 | 6.15.10 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.16 | 6.16.1 |
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a356da16fb933abbeeb7aea038c351f3342cd3f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17ce3e5949bc37557305ad46316f41c7875d6366
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62f6175d145e00fc999fd2fcbffad3f59253c66a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e0199c28167a8a4adec036005a8df268b2b68529
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee2502485702e4398cd74dbfb288bfa111d25e62
Deep Security Visibility Without the Complexity
SynScan provides clear, real-time security insights so you can monitor your attack surface, spot risks early, and act fast—without extra complexity.
- No setup fees
- 5-min deployment
- Cancel anytime
Frequently Asked Questions
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.