CVE-2025-40169 (GCVE-0-2025-40169)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-11-12 10:46 – Updated: 2026-08-05 12:08
VLAI
EPSS
VEX
Title
bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops
When verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function validates
instructions with ALU operations. The 'offset' field in these
instructions is a signed 16-bit integer.
The existing check 'insn->off > 1' was intended to ensure the offset is
either 0, or 1 for BPF_MOD/BPF_DIV. However, because 'insn->off' is
signed, this check incorrectly accepts all negative values (e.g., -1).
This commit tightens the validation by changing the condition to
'(insn->off != 0 && insn->off != 1)'. This ensures that any value
other than the explicitly permitted 0 and 1 is rejected, hardening the
verifier against malformed BPF programs.
Severity
7.8 (High)
Assigner
References
Impacted products
2 products
| Vendor | Product | Version | CPE status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux |
Affected:
ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80 , < 3bce44b344040e5eef3d64d38b157c15304c0aab
(git)
Affected: ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80 , < 5017c302ca4b2a45149ad64e058fa2d5623c068f (git) Affected: ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80 , < 21167bf70dbe400563e189ac632258d35eda38b5 (git) Affected: ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80 , < 55c0ced59fe17dee34e9dfd5f7be63cbab207758 (git) |
guessed | |
| Linux | Linux |
Affected:
6.6
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.6 (semver) Unaffected: 6.6.112 , ≤ 6.6.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.12.53 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.17.3 , ≤ 6.17.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.18 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix) |
guessed |
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"kernel/bpf/verifier.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "3bce44b344040e5eef3d64d38b157c15304c0aab",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "5017c302ca4b2a45149ad64e058fa2d5623c068f",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "21167bf70dbe400563e189ac632258d35eda38b5",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "55c0ced59fe17dee34e9dfd5f7be63cbab207758",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80",
"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"kernel/bpf/verifier.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.6"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.6",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.6.112",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.53",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.17.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.17.3",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.6.112",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.6",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.12.53",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.6",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.17.3",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.6",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.18",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.6",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nbpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops\n\nWhen verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function validates\ninstructions with ALU operations. The \u0027offset\u0027 field in these\ninstructions is a signed 16-bit integer.\n\nThe existing check \u0027insn-\u003eoff \u003e 1\u0027 was intended to ensure the offset is\neither 0, or 1 for BPF_MOD/BPF_DIV. However, because \u0027insn-\u003eoff\u0027 is\nsigned, this check incorrectly accepts all negative values (e.g., -1).\n\nThis commit tightens the validation by changing the condition to\n\u0027(insn-\u003eoff != 0 \u0026\u0026 insn-\u003eoff != 1)\u0027. This ensures that any value\nother than the explicitly permitted 0 and 1 is rejected, hardening the\nverifier against malformed BPF programs."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"baseScore": 7.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"scenarios": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "AV:L - The vulnerable code is reached through the local `bpf(BPF_PROG_LOAD)` syscall, which invokes `bpf_check()` \u2192 `do_check()` \u2192 `check_alu_op()`. Although the resulting program later executes on packet receive, loading the malformed instruction requires local system access.\nAC:L - Exploitation is fully deterministic: emit a `BPF_DIV`/`BPF_MOD` instruction with `off = -1`, set the dividend to `LLONG_MIN` and the divisor to `-1`, and run it. There is no race, no timing window, and no dependence on memory layout or system state the attacker cannot control.\nPR:L - `sysctl_unprivileged_bpf_disabled` defaults to 0 unless `CONFIG_BPF_UNPRIV_DEFAULT_OFF` is built in (Android and many embedded/distro configs leave it enabled), and `kernel/bpf/syscall.c:2941` explicitly permits `BPF_PROG_TYPE_SOCKET_FILTER` and `BPF_PROG_TYPE_CGROUP_SKB` loads with no `bpf_cap`; the program is then triggered via `SO_ATTACH_BPF` on the attacker\u0027s own socket. Where unprivileged BPF is disabled, `bpf_token_capable()` grants `ns_capable()`-level CAP_BPF inside a delegated user namespace, so real root is never required.\nUI:N - The attacker loads and triggers the BPF program entirely on their own, by attaching it to a socket they own and sending themselves a packet. No victim action of any kind is involved.\nS:U - The verifier bypass, the JIT\u0027d signed division, and the resulting fault all occur within the kernel\u0027s own security authority. No VM, IOMMU, or hypervisor boundary is crossed.\nC:H - On the s390 JIT the `switch (off)` in the DIV/MOD handlers has no default, so no divide instruction is emitted while the trailing `lgr %dst,%rc` still executes, copying the uninitialized kernel scratch register `%r0`/`%r1` \u2014 potentially a kernel pointer \u2014 into a BPF register that the program can write to a map and read from userspace, repeatably and at attacker-chosen program points. The x86 divide-error oops additionally dumps full register and stack state, defeating KASLR.\nI:H - The verifier accepts an instruction whose runtime semantics it never models \u2014 the JIT executes a signed division while the fixup layer applies only the unsigned guards, and on s390 uncontrolled kernel register contents are injected into verified program state. This is a verifier validation bypass in which JIT-emitted code and the verifier\u0027s model of that code diverge, so integrity of the sandbox\u0027s guarantees is not preserved.\nA:H - Because `is_sdiv`/`is_smod` in `do_misc_fixups()` test `insn-\u003eoff == 1`, the `LLONG_MIN sdiv -1` overflow guards are skipped while the x86-64 JIT still emits `cqo; idiv`, producing a #DE with no exception-table entry \u2014 `do_trap()` reaches `die(\"divide error\")`, oopsing the kernel. Triggered from a socket-filter/tc/XDP program this fires in softirq context, yielding \"Fatal exception in interrupt\" and a full system panic."
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:08:14.652Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bce44b344040e5eef3d64d38b157c15304c0aab"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5017c302ca4b2a45149ad64e058fa2d5623c068f"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/21167bf70dbe400563e189ac632258d35eda38b5"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/55c0ced59fe17dee34e9dfd5f7be63cbab207758"
}
],
"title": "bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2025-40169",
"datePublished": "2025-11-12T10:46:51.736Z",
"dateReserved": "2025-04-16T07:20:57.176Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:08:14.652Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2",
"vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
"epss": {
"cve": "CVE-2025-40169",
"date": "2026-09-17",
"epss": "0.00142",
"percentile": "0.03917"
},
"nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2025-40169\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"published\":\"2025-11-12T11:15:47.270\",\"lastModified\":\"2026-07-30T06:24:15.357\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Deferred\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\\n\\nbpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops\\n\\nWhen verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function validates\\ninstructions with ALU operations. The \u0027offset\u0027 field in these\\ninstructions is a signed 16-bit integer.\\n\\nThe existing check \u0027insn-\u003eoff \u003e 1\u0027 was intended to ensure the offset is\\neither 0, or 1 for BPF_MOD/BPF_DIV. However, because \u0027insn-\u003eoff\u0027 is\\nsigned, this check incorrectly accepts all negative values (e.g., -1).\\n\\nThis commit tightens the validation by changing the condition to\\n\u0027(insn-\u003eoff != 0 \u0026\u0026 insn-\u003eoff != 1)\u0027. This ensures that any value\\nother than the explicitly permitted 0 and 1 is rejected, hardening the\\nverifier against malformed BPF programs.\"}],\"affected\":[{\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"affectedData\":[{\"vendor\":\"Linux\",\"product\":\"Linux\",\"defaultStatus\":\"unaffected\",\"programFiles\":[\"kernel/bpf/verifier.c\"],\"repo\":\"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git\",\"versions\":[{\"version\":\"ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80\",\"lessThan\":\"3bce44b344040e5eef3d64d38b157c15304c0aab\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80\",\"lessThan\":\"5017c302ca4b2a45149ad64e058fa2d5623c068f\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80\",\"lessThan\":\"21167bf70dbe400563e189ac632258d35eda38b5\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"ec0e2da95f72d4a46050a4d994e4fe471474fd80\",\"lessThan\":\"55c0ced59fe17dee34e9dfd5f7be63cbab207758\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"}]},{\"vendor\":\"Linux\",\"product\":\"Linux\",\"defaultStatus\":\"affected\",\"programFiles\":[\"kernel/bpf/verifier.c\"],\"repo\":\"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git\",\"versions\":[{\"version\":\"6.6\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"0\",\"lessThan\":\"6.6\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.6.112\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.6.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.12.53\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.12.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.17.3\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.17.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.18\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"*\",\"versionType\":\"original_commit_for_fix\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"}]}]}],\"metrics\":{\"cvssMetricV31\":[{\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"type\":\"Secondary\",\"cvssData\":{\"version\":\"3.1\",\"vectorString\":\"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H\",\"baseScore\":7.8,\"baseSeverity\":\"HIGH\",\"attackVector\":\"LOCAL\",\"attackComplexity\":\"LOW\",\"privilegesRequired\":\"LOW\",\"userInteraction\":\"NONE\",\"scope\":\"UNCHANGED\",\"confidentialityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"integrityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"availabilityImpact\":\"HIGH\"},\"exploitabilityScore\":1.8,\"impactScore\":5.9}]},\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/21167bf70dbe400563e189ac632258d35eda38b5\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bce44b344040e5eef3d64d38b157c15304c0aab\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5017c302ca4b2a45149ad64e058fa2d5623c068f\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/55c0ced59fe17dee34e9dfd5f7be63cbab207758\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"}]}}",
"redhat_vex": {
"aggregate_severity": "Low",
"current_release_date": "2026-07-30T10:08:09+00:00",
"cve": "CVE-2025-40169",
"id": "CVE-2025-40169",
"initial_release_date": "2025-11-12T00:00:00+00:00",
"product_status:known_affected": "184",
"product_status:known_not_affected": "90",
"source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
"status": "final",
"title": "kernel: bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops",
"url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2025/cve-2025-40169.json",
"version": "3"
}
}
}
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Experimental. This forecast is provided for visualization only and may change without notice. Do not use it for operational decisions.
Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the
vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base
model, served locally by ML-Gateway.
They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
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Related by attack behaviour
Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.
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