Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net, hsr: reject HSR frame...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net, hsr: reject HSR frame if skb can't hold tag
Receiving HSR frame with insufficient space to hold HSR tag in the skb
can result in a crash (kernel BUG):
[ 45.390915] skbuff: skb_under_panic: text:ffffffff86f32cac len:26 put:14 head:ffff888042418000 data:ffff888042417ff4 tail:0xe end:0x180 dev:bridge_slave_1
[ 45.392559] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 45.392912] kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:211!
[ 45.393276] Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC KASAN NOPTI
[ 45.393809] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 2496 Comm: reproducer Not tainted 6.15.0 #12 PREEMPT(undef)
[ 45.394433] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
[ 45.395273] RIP: 0010:skb_panic+0x15b/0x1d0
<snip registers, remove unreliable trace>
[ 45.402911] Call Trace:
[ 45.403105]
[ 45.404470] skb_push+0xcd/0xf0
[ 45.404726] br_dev_queue_push_xmit+0x7c/0x6c0
[ 45.406513] br_forward_finish+0x128/0x260
[ 45.408483] __br_forward+0x42d/0x590
[ 45.409464] maybe_deliver+0x2eb/0x420
[ 45.409763] br_flood+0x174/0x4a0
[ 45.410030] br_handle_frame_finish+0xc7c/0x1bc0
[ 45.411618] br_handle_frame+0xac3/0x1230
[ 45.413674] __netif_receive_skb_core.constprop.0+0x808/0x3df0
[ 45.422966] __netif_receive_skb_one_core+0xb4/0x1f0
[ 45.424478] __netif_receive_skb+0x22/0x170
[ 45.424806] process_backlog+0x242/0x6d0
[ 45.425116] __napi_poll+0xbb/0x630
[ 45.425394] net_rx_action+0x4d1/0xcc0
[ 45.427613] handle_softirqs+0x1a4/0x580
[ 45.427926] do_softirq+0x74/0x90
[ 45.428196]
This issue was found by syzkaller.
The panic happens in br_dev_queue_push_xmit() once it receives a
corrupted skb with ETH header already pushed in linear data. When it
attempts the skb_push() call, there's not enough headroom and
skb_push() panics.
The corrupted skb is put on the queue by HSR layer, which makes a
sequence of unintended transformations when it receives a specific
corrupted HSR frame (with incomplete TAG).
Fix it by dropping and consuming frames that are not long enough to
contain both ethernet and hsr headers.
Alternative fix would be to check for enough headroom before skb_push()
in br_dev_queue_push_xmit().
In the reproducer, this is injected via AF_PACKET, but I don't easily
see why it couldn't be sent over the wire from adjacent network.
Further Details:
In the reproducer, the following network interface chain is set up:
┌────────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐
│ veth0_to_hsr ├───┤ hsr_slave0 ┼───┐
└────────────────┘ └────────────────┘ │
│ ┌──────┐
├─┤ hsr0 ├───┐
│ └──────┘ │
┌────────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │ │┌────────┐
│ veth1_to_hsr ┼───┤ hsr_slave1 ├───┘ └┤ │
└────────────────┘ └────────────────┘ ┌┼ bridge │
││ │
│└────────┘
│
┌───────┐ │
│ ... ├──────┘
└───────┘
To trigger the events leading up to crash, reproducer sends a corrupted
HSR fr
---truncated---
Impact
The application dereferences a null pointer, causing a crash. Typical impact: denial of service via crash.
CVE-2025-39703 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-39703? CVE-2025-39703 is a medium-severity null pointer dereference vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet. The application dereferences a null pointer, causing a crash.
- How severe is CVE-2025-39703? CVE-2025-39703 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-39703? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-39703 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2025-39703 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-39703 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2025-39703 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.