Upstream information
Description
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 available
2. When detected in get stats, all stats will be reported as zero.
Both cases are presumably transient, and a subsequent ethtool call
should succeed.
Other than the overflow avoidance, these two cases are very evident (no
output/cleared stats), which is arguably better than presenting
incorrect/shifted stats.
I also considered returning an error instead of a "silent" response, but
that seems more destructive towards userspace apps.
Notes:
- This patch does not claim to fix the inherent race, it only makes sure
that we do not overflow the userspace buffer, and makes for a more
predictable behavior.
- RTNL lock is held during each ioctl, the race window exists between
the separate ioctl calls when the lock is released.
- Userspace ethtool always fills stats.n_stats, but it is likely that
these stats ioctls are implemented in other userspace applications
which might not fill it. The added code checks that it's not zero,
to prevent any regressions.
SUSE information
Overall state of this security issue: Pending
This issue is currently rated as having moderate severity.
| CVSS detail | SUSE |
|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.8 |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H |
| Attack Vector | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High |
| Privileges Required | Low |
| User Interaction | None |
| Scope | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality Impact | Low |
| Integrity Impact | Low |
| Availability Impact | High |
| CVSSv3 Version | 3.1 |
| CVSS detail | SUSE |
|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.8 |
| Vector | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| Attack Vector | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low |
| Attack Requirements | Present |
| Privileges Required | Low |
| User Interaction | None |
| Vulnerable System Confidentiality Impact | Low |
| Vulnerable System Integrity Impact | Low |
| Vulnerable System Availability Impact | High |
| Subsequent System Confidentiality Impact | None |
| Subsequent System Integrity Impact | None |
| Subsequent System Availability Impact | None |
| CVSSv4 Version | 4.0 |
Note from the SUSE Security Team on the kernel-default package
SUSE will no longer fix all CVEs in the Linux Kernel anymore, but declare some bug classes as won't fix. Please refer to TID 21496 for more details. SUSE Bugzilla entry: 1256688 [NEW] No SUSE Security Announcements cross referenced.Status of this issue by product and package
Please note that this evaluation state might be work in progress, incomplete or outdated. Also information for service packs in the LTSS phase is only included for issues meeting the LTSS criteria. If in doubt, feel free to contact us for clarification. The updates are grouped by state of their lifecycle. SUSE product lifecycles are documented on the lifecycle page.
| Product(s) | Source package | State |
|---|---|---|
| Products under general support and receiving all security fixes. | ||
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 | kernel-source-azure | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | kernel-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 | kernel-source-azure | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP7 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | kernel-source-azure | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | kernel-source-azure | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | kernel-source-azure | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | kernel-source-azure | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| Products under Long Term Service Pack support and receiving important and critical security fixes. | ||
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP4 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS Extended Security | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS Extended Security | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| Products past their end of life and not receiving proactive updates anymore. | ||
| SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 6 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 | kernel-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 12 SP2-CLIENT | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP5 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-BCL | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-ESPOS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-ESPOS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-BCL | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-BCL | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for Raspberry Pi 12 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | kernel-default | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.0 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.1 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.2 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 9 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 | kernel-source | Affected |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP3 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP4 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP5 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.3 | kernel-source | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.3 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | kernel-source | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | kernel-source | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | kernel-source-rt | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | kernel-source | Affected |
SUSE Timeline for this CVE
CVE page created: Wed Jan 14 16:46:11 2026CVE page last modified: Wed Jan 14 18:43:59 2026