CVE-2025-37953 | sch_htb: make htb_deactivate() idempotent

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sch_htb: make htb_deactivate() idempotent Alan reported a NULL pointer dereference in htb_next_rb_node() after we made htb_qlen_notify() idempotent. It turns out in the following case it introduced some regression: htb_dequeue_tree(): |-> fq_codel_dequeue() |-> qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog() |-> htb_qlen_notify() |-> htb_deactivate() |-> htb_next_rb_node() |-> htb_deactivate() For htb_next_rb_node(), after calling the 1st htb_deactivate(), the clprio[prio]->ptr could be already set to NULL, which means htb_next_rb_node() is vulnerable here. For htb_deactivate(), although we checked qlen before calling it, in case of qlen==0 after qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog(), we may call it again which triggers the warning inside. To fix the issues here, we need to: 1) Make htb_deactivate() idempotent, that is, simply return if we already call it before. 2) Make htb_next_rb_node() safe against ptr==NULL. Many thanks to Alan for testing and for the reproducer.

Published: 2025-05-20 Last update: 2025-12-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-37953 is rated Low Risk (32.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.12%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-37953

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-16 0.03% 0.12% +0.09%
2 2025-12-18 0.06% 0.03% -0.03%
3 2025-10-28 0.06%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-37953

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-37953

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-37953

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-37953 unimportant priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-37953
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-37953
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-37953/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-37953 medium priority: Ubuntu including 144 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1288 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 924, ignored 146, not-affected 140, released 78. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-37953

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-37953

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel 6.1.138 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.1.138:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.6.90 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.6.90:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.12.28 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12.28:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-37953

cvelogic Threat Intelligence