Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-39770

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.20 / 5.5 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: gso: Forbid IPv6 TSO with extensions on devices with only IPV6_CSUM When performing Generic Segmentation Offload (GSO) on an IPv6 packet that contains extension headers, the kernel incorrectly requests checksum offload if the egress device only advertises NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM feature, which has a strict contract: it supports checksum offload only for plain TCP or UDP over IPv6 and explicitly does not support packets with extension headers. The current GSO logic violates this contract by failing to disable the feature for packets with extension headers, such as those used in GREoIPv6 tunnels. This violation results in the device being asked to perform an operation it cannot support, leading to a `skb_warn_bad_offload` warning and a collapse of network throughput. While device TSO/USO is correctly bypassed in favor of software GSO for these packets, the GSO stack must be explicitly told not to request checksum offload. Mask NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM, NETIF_F_TSO6 and NETIF_F_GSO_UDP_L4 in gso_features_check if the IPv6 header contains extension headers to compute checksum in software. The exception is a BIG TCP extension, which, as stated in commit 68e068cabd2c6c53 ("net: reenable NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM offload for BIG TCP packets"): "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." kernel log output (truncated): WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 5273 at net/core/dev.c:3535 skb_warn_bad_offload+0x81/0x140 ... Call Trace: <TASK> skb_checksum_help+0x12a/0x1f0 validate_xmit_skb+0x1a3/0x2d0 validate_xmit_skb_list+0x4f/0x80 sch_direct_xmit+0x1a2/0x380 __dev_xmit_skb+0x242/0x670 __dev_queue_xmit+0x3fc/0x7f0 ip6_finish_output2+0x25e/0x5d0 ip6_finish_output+0x1fc/0x3f0 ip6_tnl_xmit+0x608/0xc00 [ip6_tunnel] ip6gre_tunnel_xmit+0x1c0/0x390 [ip6_gre] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x63/0x1c0 __dev_queue_xmit+0x6d0/0x7f0 ip6_finish_output2+0x214/0x5d0 ip6_finish_output+0x1fc/0x3f0 ip6_xmit+0x2ca/0x6f0 ip6_finish_output+0x1fc/0x3f0 ip6_xmit+0x2ca/0x6f0 inet6_csk_xmit+0xeb/0x150 __tcp_transmit_skb+0x555/0xa80 tcp_write_xmit+0x32a/0xe90 tcp_sendmsg_locked+0x437/0x1110 tcp_sendmsg+0x2f/0x50 ... skb linear: 00000000: e4 3d 1a 7d ec 30 e4 3d 1a 7e 5d 90 86 dd 60 0e skb linear: 00000010: 00 0a 1b 34 3c 40 20 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000020: 00 00 00 00 00 12 20 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000030: 00 00 00 00 00 11 2f 00 04 01 04 01 01 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000040: 86 dd 60 0e 00 0a 1b 00 06 40 20 23 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 12 20 23 00 00 00 00 skb linear: 00000060: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 11 bf 96 14 51 13 f9 skb linear: 00000070: ae 27 a0 a8 2b e3 80 18 00 40 5b 6f 00 00 01 01 skb linear: 00000080: 08 0a 42 d4 50 d5 4b 70 f8 1a

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 4.19.323, < 4.20>= 5.4.285, < 5.5>= 5.10.229, < 5.11>= 5.15.171, < 5.16>= 6.1.116, < 6.1.149>= 6.6.60, < 6.6.103>= 6.11.7, < 6.12>= 6.12.1, < 6.12.44>= 6.13, < 6.16.4= 6.12= 6.17
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.20 / 5.5 / 5.11 or later
Fixed in 4.205.55.11
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel >= 5.16, 5.11, 5.5, or 4.20 (depending on branch); Debian 11 vendor updates

  1. Check current kernel version with: uname -r
  2. For Debian 11 (bullseye), update kernel via: apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-$(uname -r | sed 's/-.*//')
  3. Or apply the vendor patch commit 041e2f945f82fdbd6fff577b79c33469430297aa to the kernel source and rebuild
  4. After update/reboot, verify fix is active by checking kernel version is >= 5.16 (for 5.15.y branch), >= 5.11 (for 5.10.y branch), >= 5.5 (for 5.4.y branch), or >= 4.20 (for 4.19.y branch)
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility changes with custom kernel modules or older drivers

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-39770 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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