{"id":"CVE-2025-38264","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"nvme-tcp: sanitize request list handling","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnvme-tcp: sanitize request list handling\n\nValidate the request in nvme_tcp_handle_r2t() to ensure it's not part of\nany list, otherwise a malicious R2T PDU might inject a loop in request\nlist processing.","publishedAt":"2025-07-09T10:42:38.602Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-21T12:36:54.626Z","severity":{"score":9.8,"label":"Critical","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","source":"Linux"},"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"8f27d152b2a59f443091cf9e3d815f06e32e9b96","versionType":"git"},{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"78a4adcd3fedb0728436e8094848ebf4c6bae006","versionType":"git"},{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"f054ea62598197714a6ca7b3b387a027308f8b13","versionType":"git"},{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"0bf04c874fcb1ae46a863034296e4b33d8fbd66c","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"5.0","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"5.0","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.6.160","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.6.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.36","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.15.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.15.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.16","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c"]}],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f27d152b2a59f443091cf9e3d815f06e32e9b96","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/78a4adcd3fedb0728436e8094848ebf4c6bae006","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f054ea62598197714a6ca7b3b387a027308f8b13","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0bf04c874fcb1ae46a863034296e4b33d8fbd66c"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:09:09.358Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2025/38xxx/CVE-2025-38264.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2025-38264","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2025-07-09T10:42:38.602Z","dateUpdated":"2026-10-21T12:36:54.626Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2025-04-16T04:51:23.997Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"nvme-tcp: sanitize request list handling","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnvme-tcp: sanitize request list handling\n\nValidate the request in nvme_tcp_handle_r2t() to ensure it's not part of\nany list, otherwise a malicious R2T PDU might inject a loop in request\nlist processing."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"8f27d152b2a59f443091cf9e3d815f06e32e9b96","versionType":"git"},{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"78a4adcd3fedb0728436e8094848ebf4c6bae006","versionType":"git"},{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"f054ea62598197714a6ca7b3b387a027308f8b13","versionType":"git"},{"version":"3f2304f8c6d6ed97849057bd16fee99e434ca796","status":"affected","lessThan":"0bf04c874fcb1ae46a863034296e4b33d8fbd66c","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"5.0","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"5.0","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.6.160","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.6.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.12.36","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.12.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.15.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.15.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.16","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/nvme/host/tcp.c"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f27d152b2a59f443091cf9e3d815f06e32e9b96"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/78a4adcd3fedb0728436e8094848ebf4c6bae006"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f054ea62598197714a6ca7b3b387a027308f8b13"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0bf04c874fcb1ae46a863034296e4b33d8fbd66c"}],"metrics":[{"cvssV3_1":{"version":"3.1","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","baseScore":9.8,"baseSeverity":"CRITICAL"},"scenarios":[{"lang":"en","value":"AV:N - The vulnerable code is the NVMe-over-TCP host driver's PDU receive path, parsing an R2T PDU sent by a remote NVMe-oF target over TCP (port 4420); the malicious input arrives purely over the network from a compromised/rogue target or an on-path attacker.\nAC:L - The target fully controls PDU content and timing — placing two R2T PDUs for the same command_id in a single TCP segment guarantees both are processed inside one nvme_tcp_recv_skb() pass with no send-path progress between them, creating the llist cycle deterministically with no race to win and no memory-layout dependency.\nPR:N - NVMe/TCP requires no authentication by default (TLS and DH-HMAC-CHAP are optional, off in stock configs), so the remote peer needs zero privileges or credentials on the victim host — it simply answers I/O it is already being sent.\nUI:N - No victim action is required; once the host is connected to the target, ordinary filesystem/block I/O generates the in-flight commands and the malicious target triggers the bug on its own by replying with duplicate R2T PDUs.\nS:U - The corruption and the resulting hang are confined to the host kernel's own memory and scheduling authority; no VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary is crossed.\nC:H - Beyond the list corruption, duplicate queueing lets the RX path reset req->state/offset/pdu_len while the TX path is consuming the request, desynchronizing req->iter so nvme_tcp_req_cur_page() reads past the bvec array and sock_sendmsg() splices unintended kernel pages directly to the attacker-controlled socket.\nI:H - Attacker-controlled input produces kernel linked-list pointer corruption (double llist_add plus repeated list_add of an already-linked entry into send_list) and lets an in-flight request's PDU header, ttag, and iterator state be rewritten mid-transfer, which is memory/state corruption leverageable for further control over kernel structures.\nA:H - The injected cycle makes nvme_tcp_process_req_list() spin forever in the nvme_tcp_wq kworker while holding queue->send_mutex with no cond_resched(), producing a CPU soft lockup, RCU stalls, and a permanently wedged storage queue — a deterministic, unauthenticated remote kernel hang."}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-10-21T12:36:54.626Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.0","versionEndExcluding":"6.6.160"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.0","versionEndExcluding":"6.12.36"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.0","versionEndExcluding":"6.15.5"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"5.0","versionEndExcluding":"6.16"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}}