CVE-2025-40079 riscv, bpf: Sign extend struct ops return values properly
A missing sign extension in the RISC-V BPF JIT compiler causes kernel panics when executing specific BPF struct operations.
- 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-2025-40079?
CVE-2025-40079 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 28 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:
riscv, bpf: Sign extend struct ops return values properly
The ns_bpf_qdisc selftest triggers a kernel panic:
Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ffffffffa38dbf58 Current test_progs pgtable: 4K pagesize, 57-bit VAs, pgdp=0x00000001109cc000 [ffffffffa38dbf58] pgd=000000011fffd801, p4d=000000011fffd401, pud=000000011fffd001, pmd=0000000000000000 Oops [#1] Modules linked in: bpf_testmod(OE) xt_conntrack nls_iso8859_1 [...] [last unloaded: bpf_testmod(OE)] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 23584 Comm: test_progs Tainted: G W OE 6.17.0-rc1-g2465bb83e0b4 #1 NONE Tainted: [W]=WARN, [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE Hardware name: Unknown Unknown Product/Unknown Product, BIOS 2024.01+dfsg-1ubuntu5.1 01/01/2024 epc : __qdisc_run+0x82/0x6f0 ra : __qdisc_run+0x6e/0x6f0 epc : ffffffff80bd5c7a ra : ffffffff80bd5c66 sp : ff2000000eecb550 gp : ffffffff82472098 tp : ff60000096895940 t0 : ffffffff8001f180 t1 : ffffffff801e1664 t2 : 0000000000000000 s0 : ff2000000eecb5d0 s1 : ff60000093a6a600 a0 : ffffffffa38dbee8 a1 : 0000000000000001 a2 : ff2000000eecb510 a3 : 0000000000000001 a4 : 0000000000000000 a5 : 0000000000000010 a6 : 0000000000000000 a7 : 0000000000735049 s2 : ffffffffa38dbee8 s3 : 0000000000000040 s4 : ff6000008bcda000 s5 : 0000000000000008 s6 : ff60000093a6a680 s7 : ff60000093a6a6f0 s8 : ff60000093a6a6ac s9 : ff60000093140000 s10: 0000000000000000 s11: ff2000000eecb9d0 t3 : 0000000000000000 t4 : 0000000000ff0000 t5 : 0000000000000000 t6 : ff60000093a6a8b6 status: 0000000200000120 badaddr: ffffffffa38dbf58 cause: 000000000000000d [<ffffffff80bd5c7a>] __qdisc_run+0x82/0x6f0 [<ffffffff80b6fe58>] __dev_queue_xmit+0x4c0/0x1128 [<ffffffff80b80ae0>] neigh_resolve_output+0xd0/0x170 [<ffffffff80d2daf6>] ip6_finish_output2+0x226/0x6c8 [<ffffffff80d31254>] ip6_finish_output+0x10c/0x2a0 [<ffffffff80d31446>] ip6_output+0x5e/0x178 [<ffffffff80d2e232>] ip6_xmit+0x29a/0x608 [<ffffffff80d6f4c6>] inet6_csk_xmit+0xe6/0x140 [<ffffffff80c985e4>] __tcp_transmit_skb+0x45c/0xaa8 [<ffffffff80c995fe>] tcp_connect+0x9ce/0xd10 [<ffffffff80d66524>] tcp_v6_connect+0x4ac/0x5e8 [<ffffffff80cc19b8>] __inet_stream_connect+0xd8/0x318 [<ffffffff80cc1c36>] inet_stream_connect+0x3e/0x68 [<ffffffff80b42b20>] __sys_connect_file+0x50/0x88 [<ffffffff80b42bee>] __sys_connect+0x96/0xc8 [<ffffffff80b42c40>] __riscv_sys_connect+0x20/0x30 [<ffffffff80e5bcae>] do_trap_ecall_u+0x256/0x378 [<ffffffff80e69af2>] handle_exception+0x14a/0x156 Code: 892a 0363 1205 489c 8bc1 c7e5 2d03 084a 2703 080a (2783) 0709 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
The bpf_fifo_dequeue prog returns a skb which is a pointer. The pointer is treated as a 32bit value and sign extend to 64bit in epilogue. This behavior is right for most bpf prog types but wrong for struct ops which requires RISC-V ABI.
So let's sign extend struct ops return values according to the function model and RISC-V ABI([0]).
[0]: https://riscv.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/riscv-calling.pdf
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-40079?
How do I fix CVE-2025-40079?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2025-40079 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40079 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-40079, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40079, GHSA-hw24-w8rj-6q65, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-40079, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-40079, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40079.