CVE-2025-39766 | net/sched: Make cake_enqueue return NET_XMIT_CN when past buffer_limit

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: Make cake_enqueue return NET_XMIT_CN when past buffer_limit The following setup can trigger a WARNING in htb_activate due to the condition: !cl->leaf.q->q.qlen tc qdisc del dev lo root tc qdisc add dev lo root handle 1: htb default 1 tc class add dev lo parent 1: classid 1:1 \ htb rate 64bit tc qdisc add dev lo parent 1:1 handle f: \ cake memlimit 1b ping -I lo -f -c1 -s64 -W0.001 127.0.0.1 This is because the low memlimit leads to a low buffer_limit, which causes packet dropping. However, cake_enqueue still returns NET_XMIT_SUCCESS, causing htb_enqueue to call htb_activate with an empty child qdisc. We should return NET_XMIT_CN when packets are dropped from the same tin and flow. I do not believe return value of NET_XMIT_CN is necessary for packet drops in the case of ack filtering, as that is meant to optimize performance, not to signal congestion.

Published: 2025-09-11 Last update: 2026-05-12 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-39766 is rated Low Risk (33/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2025-39766

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 2025-09-12 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-39766

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-2025-39766

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-39766

GHSA-p46x-ph7h-c256 · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: Make cake_enqueue...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-39766

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-39766 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-2025-39766
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-39766
suse medium CVE-2025-39766 severity moderate: SUSE including 462 source package names (2.1.3-6.80:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-35.1.21.12, 2.1.3-7.57:kernel-default-6.4.0-35.1, …), 927 product×package rows across 188 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (188 product lines)): Fixed 619, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 56, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-39766/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-39766 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 176, released 150, not-affected 40, needed 28, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-39766

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-39766

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.19, < 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, < 6.1.149 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.103 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.44 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.16.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.17 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.17 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-39766

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0dacfc5372e314d1219f03e64dde3ab495a5a25e Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15de71d06a400f7fdc15bf377a2552b0ec437cf5 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62d591dde4defb1333d202410609c4ddeae060b3 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/710866fc0a64eafcb8bacd91bcb1329eb7e5035f Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7689ab22de36f8db19095f6bdf11f28cfde92f5c Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa12ee1c1bd260943fd6ab556d8635811c332eeb Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de04ddd2980b48caa8d7e24a7db2742917a8b280 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff57186b2cc39766672c4c0332323933e5faaa88 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
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-032379.html
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