CVE-2025-39853 | i40e: Fix potential invalid access when MAC list is empty

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i40e: Fix potential invalid access when MAC list is empty list_first_entry() never returns NULL - if the list is empty, it still returns a pointer to an invalid object, leading to potential invalid memory access when dereferenced. Fix this by using list_first_entry_or_null instead of list_first_entry.

Published: 2025-09-19 Last update: 2026-05-12 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-39853 is rated Low Risk (30.1/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2025-39853

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 2026-01-21 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
2 2026-01-19 0.02% 0.06% +0.04%
3 2025-09-20 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-39853

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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 5.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-39853

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-39853

GHSA-7fp7-xjmp-444h · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i40e: Fix potential invalid...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-39853

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-39853 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-2025-39853
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-39853
suse medium CVE-2025-39853 severity moderate: SUSE including 471 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, …), 954 product×package rows across 197 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (197 product lines)): Fixed 696, Known Affected 231, First Fixed 21, Known Not Affected 6. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-39853/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-39853 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 177, released 149, needed 43, not-affected 24, needs-triage 2, pending 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-39853

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-39853

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.6, < 5.4.299 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.243 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.192 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.151 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.105 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.46 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.16.6 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:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.17 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.17 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-39853

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1eadabcf5623f1237a539b16586b4ed8ac8dffcd Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3c6fb929afa313d9d11f780451d113f73922fe5d Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/66e7cdbda74ee823ec2bf7b830ebd235c54f5ddf Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/971feafe157afac443027acdc235badc6838560b Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9c21fc4cebd44dd21016c61261a683af390343f8 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a556f06338e1d5a85af0e32ecb46e365547f92b9 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2a5e74879f9b494bbd66fa93f355feacde450c7 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb216d980fae6561c7c70af8ef826faf059c6515 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
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-089022.html
cvelogic Threat Intelligence