# CVE-2025-39970: i40e: fix input validation logic for action_meta

> A missing input validation check in the i40e network driver allows an out-of-bounds dereference, potentially causing a kernel crash.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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:** 15 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-68471, BELL-CVE-2025-39970, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-39970, GHSA-wvv8-jpfv-h23m, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-39970, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-39970, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-39970, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-39970, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-39970

## What is CVE-2025-39970?

CVE-2025-39970 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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:

i40e: fix input validation logic for action_meta

Fix condition to check 'greater or equal' to prevent OOB dereference.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-39970?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-39970?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-39970 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39970 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-39970 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-39970 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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-2025-39970 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: 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-2025-39970/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39970/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-39970
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-39970
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-39970

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39970/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.