CVE-2022-50253 bpf: make sure skb->len != 0 when redirecting to a tunneling device
A missing length check in the Linux kernel BPF subsystem allows a local attacker to trigger a kernel warning or crash via a crafted BPF program.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2022-50253?
CVE-2022-50253 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: make sure skb->len != 0 when redirecting to a tunneling device
syzkaller managed to trigger another case where skb->len == 0 when we enter __dev_queue_xmit:
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 2470 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2576 skb_assert_len include/linux/skbuff.h:2576 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 2470 at include/linux/skbuff.h:2576 __dev_queue_xmit+0x2069/0x35e0 net/core/dev.c:4295
Call Trace: dev_queue_xmit+0x17/0x20 net/core/dev.c:4406 __bpf_tx_skb net/core/filter.c:2115 [inline] __bpf_redirect_no_mac net/core/filter.c:2140 [inline] __bpf_redirect+0x5fb/0xda0 net/core/filter.c:2163 ____bpf_clone_redirect net/core/filter.c:2447 [inline] bpf_clone_redirect+0x247/0x390 net/core/filter.c:2419 bpf_prog_48159a89cb4a9a16+0x59/0x5e bpf_dispatcher_nop_func include/linux/bpf.h:897 [inline] __bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:596 [inline] bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:603 [inline] bpf_test_run+0x46c/0x890 net/bpf/test_run.c:402 bpf_prog_test_run_skb+0xbdc/0x14c0 net/bpf/test_run.c:1170 bpf_prog_test_run+0x345/0x3c0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:3648 __sys_bpf+0x43a/0x6c0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5005 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5091 [inline] __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5089 [inline] __x64_sys_bpf+0x7c/0x90 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5089 do_syscall_64+0x54/0x70 arch/x86/entry/common.c:48 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6
The reproducer doesn't really reproduce outside of syzkaller environment, so I'm taking a guess here. It looks like we do generate correct ETH_HLEN-sized packet, but we redirect the packet to the tunneling device. Before we do so, we __skb_pull l2 header and arrive again at skb->len == 0. Doesn't seem like we can do anything better than having an explicit check after __skb_pull?
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50253?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50253?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2022-50253 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50253 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50253, GHSA-mmcv-ff9h-q89c, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50253.