CVE-2025-37959 | bpf: Scrub packet on bpf_redirect_peer

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Scrub packet on bpf_redirect_peer When bpf_redirect_peer is used to redirect packets to a device in another network namespace, the skb isn't scrubbed. That can lead skb information from one namespace to be "misused" in another namespace. As one example, this is causing Cilium to drop traffic when using bpf_redirect_peer to redirect packets that just went through IPsec decryption to a container namespace. The following pwru trace shows (1) the packet path from the host's XFRM layer to the container's XFRM layer where it's dropped and (2) the number of active skb extensions at each function. NETNS MARK IFACE TUPLE FUNC 4026533547 d00 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 xfrm_rcv_cb .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026533547 d00 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 xfrm4_rcv_cb .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026533547 d00 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 gro_cells_receive .active_extensions = (__u8)2, [...] 4026533547 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 skb_do_redirect .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026534999 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 ip_rcv .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026534999 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 ip_rcv_core .active_extensions = (__u8)2, [...] 4026534999 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 udp_queue_rcv_one_skb .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026534999 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 __xfrm_policy_check .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026534999 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 __xfrm_decode_session .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026534999 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 security_xfrm_decode_session .active_extensions = (__u8)2, 4026534999 0 eth0 10.244.3.124:35473->10.244.2.158:53 kfree_skb_reason(SKB_DROP_REASON_XFRM_POLICY) .active_extensions = (__u8)2, In this case, there are no XFRM policies in the container's network namespace so the drop is unexpected. When we decrypt the IPsec packet, the XFRM state used for decryption is set in the skb extensions. This information is preserved across the netns switch. When we reach the XFRM policy check in the container's netns, __xfrm_policy_check drops the packet with LINUX_MIB_XFRMINNOPOLS because a (container-side) XFRM policy can't be found that matches the (host-side) XFRM state used for decryption. This patch fixes this by scrubbing the packet when using bpf_redirect_peer, as is done on typical netns switches via veth devices except skb->mark and skb->tstamp are not zeroed.

Published: 2025-05-20 Last update: 2025-12-16 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-37959 is rated Low Risk (31.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.10%). 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-2025-37959

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 0.02% 0.10% +0.08%
2 2025-12-17 0.06% 0.02% -0.03%
3 2025-11-04 0.06%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-37959

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-2025-37959

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-37959

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-37959 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-37959
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-37959
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-37959/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-37959 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 164, released 136, not-affected 68, needed 35, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-37959

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-37959

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.10, < 6.1.139 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.91 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.29 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.14.7 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
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-2025-37959

cvelogic Threat Intelligence