CVE-2025-38012 (GCVE-0-2025-38012)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2025-06-18 09:28
Modified
2026-08-05 11:58
Severity ?
7.8 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched_ext: bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new() should always initialize iterator BPF programs may call next() and destroy() on BPF iterators even after new() returns an error value (e.g. bpf_for_each() macro ignores error returns from new()). bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new() could leave the iterator in an uninitialized state after an error return causing bpf_iter_scx_dsq_next() to dereference garbage data. Make bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new() always clear $kit->dsq so that next() and destroy() become noops.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 650ba21b131ed1f8ee57826b2c6295a3be221132
Version: 650ba21b131ed1f8ee57826b2c6295a3be221132
Version: 650ba21b131ed1f8ee57826b2c6295a3be221132
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "kernel/sched/ext.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "0102989af4c334d1d98b2a0fd4d61a5152e39b72",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "650ba21b131ed1f8ee57826b2c6295a3be221132",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "255dd31bfc4a67a19b1fc2cd130a50284dadfe3a",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "650ba21b131ed1f8ee57826b2c6295a3be221132",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "428dc9fc0873989d73918d4a9cc22745b7bbc799",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "650ba21b131ed1f8ee57826b2c6295a3be221132",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "kernel/sched/ext.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.12"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "6.12",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.12.30",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.14.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.14.8",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.15",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.30",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.12",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.14.8",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.12",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.15",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.12",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nsched_ext: bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new() should always initialize iterator\n\nBPF programs may call next() and destroy() on BPF iterators even after new()\nreturns an error value (e.g. bpf_for_each() macro ignores error returns from\nnew()). bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new() could leave the iterator in an uninitialized\nstate after an error return causing bpf_iter_scx_dsq_next() to dereference\ngarbage data. Make bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new() always clear $kit-\u003edsq so that\nnext() and destroy() become noops."
        }
      ],
      "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 - Exploitation requires loading and running a BPF program via the local `bpf()` syscall (BPF_PROG_LOAD + BPF_PROG_TEST_RUN, or a struct_ops/tracing attach). There is no remote or adjacent-network path to the sched_ext DSQ iterator kfuncs.\nAC:L - The trigger is fully deterministic \u2014 pass an invalid flag bit to `bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new()` and call `next()` \u2014 with no race, no timing window, and no dependence on ambient memory layout, since the attacker pre-seeds the iterator stack slots with values of their choosing. `CONFIG_SCHED_CLASS_EXT` is enabled in mainstream 6.12+ distro kernels.\nPR:L - Only CAP_BPF is needed: the iterator kfuncs are registered for `BPF_PROG_TYPE_SYSCALL`, which is not perfmon/net-admin gated, and `bpf_prog_test_run_syscall()` adds no capability check. `bpf_token_capable()` allows CAP_BPF to be delegated into an unprivileged user namespace via a bpffs BPF token, so an ordinary low-privileged container user can reach it.\nUI:N - The attacker\u0027s own BPF program triggers the flaw synchronously; no victim action, mount, or file open is involved.\nS:U - The corruption and its consequences are confined to the kernel\u0027s own security authority \u2014 a standard local privilege escalation with no VM, IOMMU, or hypervisor boundary crossed.\nC:H - `nldsq_next_task()` dereferences the attacker-supplied `kit-\u003edsq` pointer and then walks arbitrary `list_head` next/prev chains, yielding an arbitrary kernel-memory read primitive that can disclose credentials, keys, and KASLR state.\nI:H - The uninitialized `kit-\u003ecursor` drives `list_move()`/`list_del_init()` against attacker-chosen addresses, and `raw_spin_lock_irqsave(\u0026kit-\u003edsq-\u003elock)` performs a read-modify-write at an arbitrary address \u2014 a controlled kernel write primitive leading to full privilege escalation.\nA:H - Dereferencing garbage pointers under `raw_spin_lock_irqsave()` reliably produces a kernel oops or a hard lockup on a bogus spinlock, and any unprivileged-BPF-capable process can repeat it at will to panic the machine."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:58:57.764Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0102989af4c334d1d98b2a0fd4d61a5152e39b72"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/255dd31bfc4a67a19b1fc2cd130a50284dadfe3a"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/428dc9fc0873989d73918d4a9cc22745b7bbc799"
        }
      ],
      "title": "sched_ext: bpf_iter_scx_dsq_new() should always initialize iterator",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2025-38012",
    "datePublished": "2025-06-18T09:28:22.057Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-04-16T04:51:23.977Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:58:57.764Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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