Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2025-39773
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: bridge: fix soft lockup in br_multicast_query_expired() When set multicast_query_interval to a large value, the local variable 'time' in br_multicast_send_query() may overflow. If the time is smaller than jiffies, the timer will expire immediately, and then call mod_timer() again, which creates a loop and may trigger the following soft lockup issue. watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 221s! [rb_consumer:66] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 66 Comm: rb_consumer Not tainted 6.16.0+ #259 PREEMPT(none) Call Trace: <IRQ> __netdev_alloc_skb+0x2e/0x3a0 br_ip6_multicast_alloc_query+0x212/0x1b70 __br_multicast_send_query+0x376/0xac0 br_multicast_send_query+0x299/0x510 br_multicast_query_expired.constprop.0+0x16d/0x1b0 call_timer_fn+0x3b/0x2a0 __run_timers+0x619/0x950 run_timer_softirq+0x11c/0x220 handle_softirqs+0x18e/0x560 __irq_exit_rcu+0x158/0x1a0 sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x76/0x90 </IRQ> This issue can be reproduced with: ip link add br0 type bridge echo 1 > /sys/class/net/br0/bridge/multicast_querier echo 0xffffffffffffffff > /sys/class/net/br0/bridge/multicast_query_interval ip link set dev br0 up The multicast_startup_query_interval can also cause this issue. Similar to the commit 99b40610956a ("net: bridge: mcast: add and enforce query interval minimum"), add check for the query interval maximum to fix this issue.
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 analysisShared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.
General guidance for the improper locking class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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
>= 2.6.34, < 5.15.190>= 5.16, < 6.1.149>= 6.2, < 6.6.103>= 6.7, < 6.12.44>= 6.13, < 6.16.4= 6.17
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 11.0CVSS 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 · scoped5.15.1906.1.1496.6.103
Linux Kernel >= 5.15.190, >= 6.1.149, >= 6.6.103, or >= 6.12.44 (depending on your current branch); Debian 11 should use vendor-supplied kernel update
- 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
- 2. For Debian 11 (Bullseye), check if the vendor has released a kernel update that includes the fix (look for version 5.10.0-xxx or later with the patch)
- 3. If running a kernel version below 5.15.190, upgrade to kernel 5.15.190 or later
- 4. If running kernel 5.16-6.1.x, upgrade to kernel 6.1.149 or later
- 5. If running kernel 6.2-6.6.x, upgrade to kernel 6.6.103 or later
- 6. If running kernel 6.7-6.12.x, upgrade to kernel 6.12.44 or later
- 7. After upgrade, the fix adds a maximum check for multicast_query_interval (similar to existing minimum check in commit 99b40610956a), preventing the timer overflow that causes the soft lockup
- 8. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel config includes CONFIG_BRIDGE and that the br_multicast_send_query function includes interval bounds checking
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-39773 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-39773 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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