CVE-2025-38039 net/mlx5e: Avoid WARN_ON when configuring MQPRIO with HTB offload enabled
A local attacker can trigger a kernel warning and call trace by configuring conflicting network queue settings, potentially causing system instability.
- 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-2025-38039?
CVE-2025-38039 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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/mlx5e: Avoid WARN_ON when configuring MQPRIO with HTB offload enabled
When attempting to enable MQPRIO while HTB offload is already configured, the driver currently returns `-EINVAL` and triggers a `WARN_ON`, leading to an unnecessary call trace.
Update the code to handle this case more gracefully by returning `-EOPNOTSUPP` instead, while also providing a helpful user message.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38039?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38039?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2025-38039 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38039 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-38039, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38039, GHSA-q6gm-wm39-84ch, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38039, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38039, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38039 and 2 more.