# CVE-2025-39900: net_sched: gen_estimator: fix est_timer() vs CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT=y

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's network scheduler estimator timer can trigger a kernel warning and potential denial of service when PREEMPT_RT is enabled.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-39900, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-39900, GHSA-h5gr-wx7g-829q, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-39900

## What is CVE-2025-39900?

CVE-2025-39900 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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_sched: gen_estimator: fix est_timer() vs CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT=y

syzbot reported a WARNING in est_timer() [1]

Problem here is that with CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT=y, timer callbacks
can be preempted.

Adopt preempt_disable_nested()/preempt_enable_nested() to fix this.

[1]
 WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 16 at ./include/linux/seqlock.h:221 __seqprop_assert include/linux/seqlock.h:221 [inline]
 WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 16 at ./include/linux/seqlock.h:221 est_timer+0x6dc/0x9f0 net/core/gen_estimator.c:93
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 16 Comm: ktimers/0 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT_{RT,(full)}
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/12/2025
 RIP: 0010:__seqprop_assert include/linux/seqlock.h:221 [inline]
 RIP: 0010:est_timer+0x6dc/0x9f0 net/core/gen_estimator.c:93
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
  call_timer_fn+0x17e/0x5f0 kernel/time/timer.c:1747
  expire_timers kernel/time/timer.c:1798 [inline]
  __run_timers kernel/time/timer.c:2372 [inline]
  __run_timer_base+0x648/0x970 kernel/time/timer.c:2384
  run_timer_base kernel/time/timer.c:2393 [inline]
  run_timer_softirq+0xb7/0x180 kernel/time/timer.c:2403
  handle_softirqs+0x22c/0x710 kernel/softirq.c:579
  __do_softirq kernel/softirq.c:613 [inline]
  run_ktimerd+0xcf/0x190 kernel/softirq.c:1043
  smpboot_thread_fn+0x53f/0xa60 kernel/smpboot.c:160
  kthread+0x70e/0x8a0 kernel/kthread.c:463
  ret_from_fork+0x3fc/0x770 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:148
  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245
 </TASK>

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-39900?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-39900?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-39900 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39900 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-2025-39900 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-39900 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Oct 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-2025-39900 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-2025-39900/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39900/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-39900
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-39900
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-39900

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39900/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.