CVE-2025-38572 | ipv6: reject malicious packets in ipv6_gso_segment()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: reject malicious packets in ipv6_gso_segment() syzbot was able to craft a packet with very long IPv6 extension headers leading to an overflow of skb->transport_header. This 16bit field has a limited range. Add skb_reset_transport_header_careful() helper and use it from ipv6_gso_segment() WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5871 at ./include/linux/skbuff.h:3032 skb_reset_transport_header include/linux/skbuff.h:3032 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5871 at ./include/linux/skbuff.h:3032 ipv6_gso_segment+0x15e2/0x21e0 net/ipv6/ip6_offload.c:151 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5871 Comm: syz-executor211 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc6-syzkaller-g7abc678e3084 #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/12/2025 RIP: 0010:skb_reset_transport_header include/linux/skbuff.h:3032 [inline] RIP: 0010:ipv6_gso_segment+0x15e2/0x21e0 net/ipv6/ip6_offload.c:151 Call Trace: <TASK> skb_mac_gso_segment+0x31c/0x640 net/core/gso.c:53 nsh_gso_segment+0x54a/0xe10 net/nsh/nsh.c:110 skb_mac_gso_segment+0x31c/0x640 net/core/gso.c:53 __skb_gso_segment+0x342/0x510 net/core/gso.c:124 skb_gso_segment include/net/gso.h:83 [inline] validate_xmit_skb+0x857/0x11b0 net/core/dev.c:3950 validate_xmit_skb_list+0x84/0x120 net/core/dev.c:4000 sch_direct_xmit+0xd3/0x4b0 net/sched/sch_generic.c:329 __dev_xmit_skb net/core/dev.c:4102 [inline] __dev_queue_xmit+0x17b6/0x3a70 net/core/dev.c:4679

Published: 2025-08-19 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-38572 is rated Low Risk (34.1/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.18%). 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-2025-38572

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 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.18% +0.16%
2 2026-01-10 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
3 2025-12-19 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38572

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38572

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38572

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38572 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 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38572
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38572
suse high CVE-2025-38572 severity important: SUSE including 655 source package names (13.2-9.1:libgcrypt20-1.10.3-slfo.1.1_2.1, 13.2-9.1:libip4tc2-1.8.9-4.1, …), 1688 product×package rows across 375 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, … (375 product lines)): Fixed 1354, Known Affected 226, Known Not Affected 86, First Fixed 22. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38572/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38572 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 165, released 165, needed 45, not-affected 18, needs-triage 2, pending 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38572

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38572

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.8, < 5.4.297 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.241 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.190 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.148 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.102 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.42 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.16, < 6.16.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38572

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/09ff062b89d8e48165247d677d1ca23d6d607e9b Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f638e0b28bde7c3354a0df938ab3a96739455d1 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5489e7fc6f8be3062f8cb7e49406de4bfd94db67 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/573b8250fc2554761db3bc2bbdbab23789d52d4e Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5dc60b2a00ed7629214ac0c48e43f40af2078703 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d45cf1e7d7180256e17c9ce88e32e8061a7887fe Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de322cdf600fc9433845a9e944d1ca6b31cfb67e Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee851768e4b8371ce151fd446d24bf3ae2d18789 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ef05007b403dcc21e701cb1f30d4572ac0a9da20 Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
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