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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-39847

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.299 / 5.10.243 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: ppp: fix memory leak in pad_compress_skb If alloc_skb() fails in pad_compress_skb(), it returns NULL without releasing the old skb. The caller does: skb = pad_compress_skb(ppp, skb); if (!skb) goto drop; drop: kfree_skb(skb); When pad_compress_skb() returns NULL, the reference to the old skb is lost and kfree_skb(skb) ends up doing nothing, leading to a memory leak. Align pad_compress_skb() semantics with realloc(): only free the old skb if allocation and compression succeed. At the call site, use the new_skb variable so the original skb is not lost when pad_compress_skb() fails.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak 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
Affected:>= 2.6.15, < 5.4.299>= 5.5, < 5.10.243>= 5.11, < 5.15.192>= 5.16, < 6.1.151>= 6.2, < 6.6.105>= 6.7, < 6.12.46>= 6.13, < 6.16.6= 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 5.4.299 / 5.10.243 / 5.15.192 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2995.10.2435.15.192
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel 5.4.299, 5.10.243, 5.15.192, or 6.1.151 (or later) depending on your current kernel branch

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version range the current kernel falls into from the affected versions: >= 2.6.15 and < 5.4.299, >= 5.5 and < 5.10.243, >= 5.11 and < 5.15.192, or >= 5.16 and < 6.1.151
  3. For Debian 11 (bullseye), check if the vendor kernel has been updated: `apt-cache policy linux-image-*`
  4. Upgrade the kernel to a fixed version: 5.4.299+, 5.10.243+, 5.15.192+, or 6.1.151+ depending on your current branch
  5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the ppp module loads correctly
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching module recompilation; ensure all proprietary kernel modules are compatible with the target kernel version before upgrading

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

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-39847 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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