# CVE-2025-38124: net: fix udp gso skb_segment after pull from frag_list

> A flaw in Linux kernel UDP GSO segmentation allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted packets.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38124, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38124, GHSA-gvvf-v7jc-239r, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38124, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38124, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38124

## What is CVE-2025-38124?

CVE-2025-38124 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 3 Jul 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: fix udp gso skb_segment after pull from frag_list

Commit a1e40ac5b5e9 ("net: gso: fix udp gso fraglist segmentation after
pull from frag_list") detected invalid geometry in frag_list skbs and
redirects them from skb_segment_list to more robust skb_segment. But some
packets with modified geometry can also hit bugs in that code. We don't
know how many such cases exist. Addressing each one by one also requires
touching the complex skb_segment code, which risks introducing bugs for
other types of skbs. Instead, linearize all these packets that fail the
basic invariants on gso fraglist skbs. That is more robust.

If only part of the fraglist payload is pulled into head_skb, it will
always cause exception when splitting skbs by skb_segment. For detailed
call stack information, see below.

Valid SKB_GSO_FRAGLIST skbs
- consist of two or more segments
- the head_skb holds the protocol headers plus first gso_size
- one or more frag_list skbs hold exactly one segment
- all but the last must be gso_size

Optional datapath hooks such as NAT and BPF (bpf_skb_pull_data) can
modify fraglist skbs, breaking these invariants.

In extreme cases they pull one part of data into skb linear. For UDP,
this  causes three payloads with lengths of (11,11,10) bytes were
pulled tail to become (12,10,10) bytes.

The skbs no longer meets the above SKB_GSO_FRAGLIST conditions because
payload was pulled into head_skb, it needs to be linearized before pass
to regular skb_segment.

    skb_segment+0xcd0/0xd14
    __udp_gso_segment+0x334/0x5f4
    udp4_ufo_fragment+0x118/0x15c
    inet_gso_segment+0x164/0x338
    skb_mac_gso_segment+0xc4/0x13c
    __skb_gso_segment+0xc4/0x124
    validate_xmit_skb+0x9c/0x2c0
    validate_xmit_skb_list+0x4c/0x80
    sch_direct_xmit+0x70/0x404
    __dev_queue_xmit+0x64c/0xe5c
    neigh_resolve_output+0x178/0x1c4
    ip_finish_output2+0x37c/0x47c
    __ip_finish_output+0x194/0x240
    ip_finish_output+0x20/0xf4
    ip_output+0x100/0x1a0
    NF_HOOK+0xc4/0x16c
    ip_forward+0x314/0x32c
    ip_rcv+0x90/0x118
    __netif_receive_skb+0x74/0x124
    process_backlog+0xe8/0x1a4
    __napi_poll+0x5c/0x1f8
    net_rx_action+0x154/0x314
    handle_softirqs+0x154/0x4b8

    [118.376811] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:bug&]kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:4278!
    [118.376829] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:traps&]Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
    [118.470774] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:mrdump&]Kernel Offset: 0x178cc00000 from 0xffffffc008000000
    [118.470810] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:mrdump&]PHYS_OFFSET: 0x40000000
    [118.470827] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:mrdump&]pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO)
    [118.470848] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:mrdump&]pc : [0xffffffd79598aefc] skb_segment+0xcd0/0xd14
    [118.470900] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:mrdump&]lr : [0xffffffd79598a5e8] skb_segment+0x3bc/0xd14
    [118.470928] [C201134] rxq0_pus: [name:mrdump&]sp : ffffffc008013770

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38124?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38124?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38124 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38124 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-38124 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38124 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 3 Jul 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38124 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2025-38124/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38124/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38124
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38124
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38124

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38124/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
