GHSA-JCGR-C7XG-M62Q
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-09-05 18:31 – Updated: 2025-11-25 21:32In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/sched: Fix backlog accounting in qdisc_dequeue_internal
This issue applies for the following qdiscs: hhf, fq, fq_codel, and fq_pie, and occurs in their change handlers when adjusting to the new limit. The problem is the following in the values passed to the subsequent qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog call given a tbf parent:
When the tbf parent runs out of tokens, skbs of these qdiscs will be placed in gso_skb. Their peek handlers are qdisc_peek_dequeued, which accounts for both qlen and backlog. However, in the case of qdisc_dequeue_internal, ONLY qlen is accounted for when pulling from gso_skb. This means that these qdiscs are missing a qdisc_qstats_backlog_dec when dropping packets to satisfy the new limit in their change handlers.
One can observe this issue with the following (with tc patched to support a limit of 0):
export TARGET=fq tc qdisc del dev lo root tc qdisc add dev lo root handle 1: tbf rate 8bit burst 100b latency 1ms tc qdisc replace dev lo handle 3: parent 1:1 $TARGET limit 1000 echo ''; echo 'add child'; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo ping -I lo -f -c2 -s32 -W0.001 127.0.0.1 2>&1 >/dev/null echo ''; echo 'after ping'; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo tc qdisc change dev lo handle 3: parent 1:1 $TARGET limit 0 echo ''; echo 'after limit drop'; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo tc qdisc replace dev lo handle 2: parent 1:1 sfq echo ''; echo 'post graft'; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo
The second to last show command shows 0 packets but a positive number (74) of backlog bytes. The problem becomes clearer in the last show command, where qdisc_purge_queue triggers qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog with the positive backlog and causes an underflow in the tbf parent's backlog (4096 Mb instead of 0).
To fix this issue, the codepath for all clients of qdisc_dequeue_internal has been simplified: codel, pie, hhf, fq, fq_pie, and fq_codel. qdisc_dequeue_internal handles the backlog adjustments for all cases that do not directly use the dequeue handler.
The old fq_codel_change limit adjustment loop accumulated the arguments to the subsequent qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog call through the cstats field. However, this is confusing and error prone as fq_codel_dequeue could also potentially mutate this field (which qdisc_dequeue_internal calls in the non gso_skb case), so we have unified the code here with other qdiscs.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-39677"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2025-09-05T18:15:44Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet/sched: Fix backlog accounting in qdisc_dequeue_internal\n\nThis issue applies for the following qdiscs: hhf, fq, fq_codel, and\nfq_pie, and occurs in their change handlers when adjusting to the new\nlimit. The problem is the following in the values passed to the\nsubsequent qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog call given a tbf parent:\n\n When the tbf parent runs out of tokens, skbs of these qdiscs will\n be placed in gso_skb. Their peek handlers are qdisc_peek_dequeued,\n which accounts for both qlen and backlog. However, in the case of\n qdisc_dequeue_internal, ONLY qlen is accounted for when pulling\n from gso_skb. This means that these qdiscs are missing a\n qdisc_qstats_backlog_dec when dropping packets to satisfy the\n new limit in their change handlers.\n\n One can observe this issue with the following (with tc patched to\n support a limit of 0):\n\n export TARGET=fq\n tc qdisc del dev lo root\n tc qdisc add dev lo root handle 1: tbf rate 8bit burst 100b latency 1ms\n tc qdisc replace dev lo handle 3: parent 1:1 $TARGET limit 1000\n echo \u0027\u0027; echo \u0027add child\u0027; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo\n ping -I lo -f -c2 -s32 -W0.001 127.0.0.1 2\u003e\u00261 \u003e/dev/null\n echo \u0027\u0027; echo \u0027after ping\u0027; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo\n tc qdisc change dev lo handle 3: parent 1:1 $TARGET limit 0\n echo \u0027\u0027; echo \u0027after limit drop\u0027; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo\n tc qdisc replace dev lo handle 2: parent 1:1 sfq\n echo \u0027\u0027; echo \u0027post graft\u0027; tc -s -d qdisc show dev lo\n\n The second to last show command shows 0 packets but a positive\n number (74) of backlog bytes. The problem becomes clearer in the\n last show command, where qdisc_purge_queue triggers\n qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog with the positive backlog and causes an\n underflow in the tbf parent\u0027s backlog (4096 Mb instead of 0).\n\nTo fix this issue, the codepath for all clients of qdisc_dequeue_internal\nhas been simplified: codel, pie, hhf, fq, fq_pie, and fq_codel.\nqdisc_dequeue_internal handles the backlog adjustments for all cases that\ndo not directly use the dequeue handler.\n\nThe old fq_codel_change limit adjustment loop accumulated the arguments to\nthe subsequent qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog call through the cstats field.\nHowever, this is confusing and error prone as fq_codel_dequeue could also\npotentially mutate this field (which qdisc_dequeue_internal calls in the\nnon gso_skb case), so we have unified the code here with other qdiscs.",
"id": "GHSA-jcgr-c7xg-m62q",
"modified": "2025-11-25T21:32:03Z",
"published": "2025-09-05T18:31:26Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-39677"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/52bf272636bda69587952b35ae97690b8dc89941"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a225f44d84b8900d679c5f5a9ea46fe9c0cc7802"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
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