# CVE-2025-37786: net: dsa: free routing table on probe failure > A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel DSA subsystem allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute code during switch probe failures. - **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`) - **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:** Yes - **Published:** 1 May 2025 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-69554, BELL-CVE-2025-37786, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-37786, GHSA-7mv8-qr93-j282, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-37786, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-37786, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-37786, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-37786, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-37786 ## What is CVE-2025-37786? CVE-2025-37786 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 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: net: dsa: free routing table on probe failure If complete = true in dsa_tree_setup(), it means that we are the last switch of the tree which is successfully probing, and we should be setting up all switches from our probe path. After "complete" becomes true, dsa_tree_setup_cpu_ports() or any subsequent function may fail. If that happens, the entire tree setup is in limbo: the first N-1 switches have successfully finished probing (doing nothing but having allocated persistent memory in the tree's dst->ports, and maybe dst->rtable), and switch N failed to probe, ending the tree setup process before anything is tangible from the user's PoV. If switch N fails to probe, its memory (ports) will be freed and removed from dst->ports. However, the dst->rtable elements pointing to its ports, as created by dsa_link_touch(), will remain there, and will lead to use-after-free if dereferenced. If dsa_tree_setup_switches() returns -EPROBE_DEFER, which is entirely possible because that is where ds->ops->setup() is, we get a kasan report like this: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mv88e6xxx_setup_upstream_port+0x240/0x568 Read of size 8 at addr ffff000004f56020 by task kworker/u8:3/42 Call trace: __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x20/0x30 mv88e6xxx_setup_upstream_port+0x240/0x568 mv88e6xxx_setup+0xebc/0x1eb0 dsa_register_switch+0x1af4/0x2ae0 mv88e6xxx_register_switch+0x1b8/0x2a8 mv88e6xxx_probe+0xc4c/0xf60 mdio_probe+0x78/0xb8 really_probe+0x2b8/0x5a8 __driver_probe_device+0x164/0x298 driver_probe_device+0x78/0x258 __device_attach_driver+0x274/0x350 Allocated by task 42: __kasan_kmalloc+0x84/0xa0 __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x298/0x490 dsa_switch_touch_ports+0x174/0x3d8 dsa_register_switch+0x800/0x2ae0 mv88e6xxx_register_switch+0x1b8/0x2a8 mv88e6xxx_probe+0xc4c/0xf60 mdio_probe+0x78/0xb8 really_probe+0x2b8/0x5a8 __driver_probe_device+0x164/0x298 driver_probe_device+0x78/0x258 __device_attach_driver+0x274/0x350 Freed by task 42: __kasan_slab_free+0x48/0x68 kfree+0x138/0x418 dsa_register_switch+0x2694/0x2ae0 mv88e6xxx_register_switch+0x1b8/0x2a8 mv88e6xxx_probe+0xc4c/0xf60 mdio_probe+0x78/0xb8 really_probe+0x2b8/0x5a8 __driver_probe_device+0x164/0x298 driver_probe_device+0x78/0x258 __device_attach_driver+0x274/0x350 The simplest way to fix the bug is to delete the routing table in its entirety. dsa_tree_setup_routing_table() has no problem in regenerating it even if we deleted links between ports other than those of switch N, because dsa_link_touch() first checks whether the port pair already exists in dst->rtable, allocating if not. The deletion of the routing table in its entirety already exists in dsa_tree_teardown(), so refactor that into a function that can also be called from the tree setup error path. In my analysis of the commit to blame, it is the one which added dsa_link elements to dst->rtable. Prior to that, each switch had its own ds->rtable which is freed when the switch fails to probe. But the tree is potentially persistent memory. Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-37786? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2025-37786? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2025-37786 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37786 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel - [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2025-37786 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2025-37786 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37786 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37786/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37786/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-37786 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-37786 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-37786 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37786/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.