CVE-2025-21922
MEDIUMCVSS VectorNVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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3DescriptionNVD
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ppp: Fix KMSAN uninit-value warning with bpf
Syzbot caught an "KMSAN: uninit-value" warning [1], which is caused by the ppp driver not initializing a 2-byte header when using socket filter.
The following code can generate a PPP filter BPF program: ''' struct bpf_program fp; pcap_t *handle; handle = pcap_open_dead(DLT_PPP_PPPD, 65535); pcap_compile(handle, &fp, "ip and outbound", 0, 0); bpf_dump(&fp, 1); ''' Its output is: ''' (000) ldh [2] (001) jeq #0x21 jt 2 jf 5 (002) ldb [0] (003) jeq #0x1 jt 4 jf 5 (004) ret #65535 (005) ret #0 ''' Wen can find similar code at the following link: https://github.com/ppp-project/ppp/blob/master/pppd/options.c#L1680 The maintainer of this code repository is also the original maintainer of the ppp driver.
As you can see the BPF program skips 2 bytes of data and then reads the 'Protocol' field to determine if it's an IP packet. Then it read the first byte of the first 2 bytes to determine the direction.
The issue is that only the first byte indicating direction is initialized in current ppp driver code while the second byte is not initialized.
For normal BPF programs generated by libpcap, uninitialized data won't be used, so it's not a problem. However, for carefully crafted BPF programs, such as those generated by syzkaller [2], which start reading from offset 0, the uninitialized data will be used and caught by KMSAN.
[1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=853242d9c9917165d791 [2] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/text?tag=ReproC&x=11994913980000
AnalysisAI
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ppp: Fix KMSAN uninit-value warning with bpf Syzbot caught an "KMSAN: uninit-value" warning [1], which is caused by the ppp driver. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use of Uninitialized Resource vulnerability could allow attackers to access uninitialized memory causing crashes or information disclosure.
Technical ContextAI
This vulnerability is classified as Use of Uninitialized Resource (CWE-908), which allows attackers to access uninitialized memory causing crashes or information disclosure. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ppp: Fix KMSAN uninit-value warning with bpf Syzbot caught an "KMSAN: uninit-value" warning [1], which is caused by the ppp driver not initializing a 2-byte header when using socket filter. The following code can generate a PPP filter BPF program: ''' struct bpf_program fp; pcap_t *handle; handle = pcap_open_dead(DLT_PPP_PPPD, 65535); pcap_compile(handle, &fp, "ip and outbound", 0, 0); bpf_dump(&fp, 1); ''' Its output is: ''' (000) ldh [2] (001) jeq #0x21 jt 2 jf 5 (002) ldb [0] (003) jeq #0x1 jt 4 jf 5 (004) ret #65535 (005) ret #0 ''' Wen can find similar code at the following link: https://github.com/ppp-project/ppp/blob/master/pppd/options.c#L1680 The maintainer of this code repository is also the original maintainer of the ppp driver. As you can see the BPF program skips 2 bytes of data and then reads the 'Protocol' field to determine if it's an IP packet. Then it read the first byte of the first 2 bytes to determine the direction. The issue is that only the first byte indicating direction is initialized in current ppp driver code while the second byte is not initialized. For normal BPF programs generated by libpcap, uninitialized data won't be used, so it's not a problem. However, for carefully crafted BPF programs, such as those generated by syzkaller [2], which start reading from offset 0, the uninitialized data will be used and caught by KMSAN. [1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=853242d9c9917165d791 [2] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/text?tag=ReproC&x=11994913980000 Affected products include: Linux Linux Kernel.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Initialize all variables, use compiler warnings for uninitialized access, use memory-safe languages.
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