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ethtool: Avoid overflowing userspace buffer on stats query

Type: advisorySource: Official CVE List1 source record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethtool: Avoid overflowing userspace buffer on stats query The ethtool -S command operates across three ioctl calls: ETHTOOL_GSSET_INFO for the size, ETHTOOL_GSTRINGS for the names, and ETHTOOL_GSTATS for the values. If the number of stats changes between these calls (e.g., due to device reconfiguration), userspace's buffer allocation will be incorrect, potentially leading to buffer overflow. Drivers are generally expected to maintain stable stat counts, but some drivers (e.g., mlx5, bnx2x, bna, ksz884x) use dynamic counters, making this scenario possible. Some drivers try to handle this internally: - bnad_get_ethtool_stats() returns early in case stats.n_stats is not equal to the driver's stats count. - micrel/ksz884x also makes sure not to write anything beyond stats.n_stats and overflow the buffer. However, both use stats.n_stats which is already assigned with the value returned from get_sset_count(), hence won't solve the issue described here. Change ethtool_get_strings(), ethtool_get_stats(), ethtool_get_phy_stats() to not return anything in case of a mismatch between userspace's size and get_sset_size(), to prevent buffer overflow. The returned n_stats value will be equal to zero, to reflect that nothing has been returned. This could result in one of two cases when using upstream ethtool, depending on when the size change is detected: 1. When detected in ethtool_get_strings(): # ethtool -S eth2 no stats

Announced Source revision 1
Original source ↗

CVE-2025-68795

Primary source · Revision 1

Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.

Security context

Source reference: cve:CVE-2025-68795

Linux

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product

Affected versions
Not stated in this record
Fixed versions
Not stated in this record
Prerequisites
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Linux

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/1/product

Affected versions
Not stated in this record
Fixed versions
Not stated in this record
Prerequisites
Not stated in this record

Structured affected-version data

Original package identities and version rules from this source.

[
  {
    "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
    "vendor": "Linux",
    "product": "Linux",
    "versions": [
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2",
        "lessThan": "3df375a1e75483b7d973c3cc2e46aa374db8428b",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2",
        "lessThan": "f9dc0f45d2cd0189ce666288a29d2cc32c2e44d5",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2",
        "lessThan": "4afcb985355210e1688560dc47e64b94dad35d71",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
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        "lessThan": "ca9983bc3a1189bd72f9ae449d925a66b2616326",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2",
        "lessThan": "7bea09f60f2ad5d232e2db8f1c14e850fd3fd416",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2",
        "lessThan": "4066b5b546293f44cd6d0e84ece6e3ee7ff27093",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2",
        "lessThan": "7b07be1ff1cb6c49869910518650e8d0abc7d25f",
        "versionType": "git"
      }
    ],
    "programFiles": [
      "net/ethtool/ioctl.c"
    ],
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
  },
  {
    "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
    "vendor": "Linux",
    "product": "Linux",
    "versions": [
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "2.6.12"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "0",
        "lessThan": "2.6.12",
        "versionType": "semver"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "5.10.248",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "5.10.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "5.15.198",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.1.160",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.6.120",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.12.64",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.18.3",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.19",
        "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "*"
      }
    ],
    "programFiles": [
      "net/ethtool/ioctl.c"
    ],
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  }
]
Related CVEs
CVE-2025-68795

Source reference: /cveMetadata/cveId

Publisher severity

high

Source reference: /containers/cna/metrics

Event
#39125 · Revision 1
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Publisher date
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