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Linux hwe edge: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: etas_es58x: populate ndo_change_mtu() to prevent buffer overflow Sending an… (CVE-2025-39988)

0
Medium
Published: 10/15/2025 (10/15/2025, 08:15:00 UTC)
Source: GCVE Database
Product: linux-hwe-edge

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: etas_es58x: populate ndo_change_mtu() to prevent buffer overflow Sending an PF_PACKET allows to bypass the CAN framework logic and to directly reach the xmit() function of a CAN driver. The only check which is performed by the PF_PACKET framework is to make sure that skb->len fits the interface's MTU. Unfortunately, because the etas_es58x driver does not populate its net_device_ops->ndo_change_mtu(), it is possible for an attacker to configure an invalid MTU by doing, for example: $ ip link set can0 mtu 9999 After doing so, the attacker could open a PF_PACKET socket using the ETH_P_CANXL protocol: socket(PF_PACKET, SOCK_RAW, htons(ETH_P_CANXL)); to inject a malicious CAN XL frames. For example: struct canxl_frame frame = { .flags = 0xff, .len = 2048, }; The CAN drivers' xmit() function are calling can_dev_dropped_skb() to check that the skb is valid, unfortunately under above conditions, the malicious packet is able to go through can_dev_dropped_skb() checks: 1. the skb->protocol is set to ETH_P_CANXL which is valid (the function does not check the actual device capabilities). 2. the length is a valid CAN XL length. And so, es58x_start_xmit() receives a CAN XL frame which it is not able to correctly handle and will thus misinterpret it as a CAN(FD) frame. This can result in a buffer overflow. For example, using the es581.4 variant, the frame will be dispatched to es581_4_tx_can_msg(), go through the last check at the beginning of this function: if (can_is_canfd_skb(skb)) return -EMSGSIZE; and reach this line: memcpy(tx_can_msg->data, cf->data, cf->len); Here, cf->len corresponds to the flags field of the CAN XL frame. In our previous example, we set canxl_frame->flags to 0xff. Because the maximum expected length is 8, a buffer overflow of 247 bytes occurs! Populate net_device_ops->ndo_change_mtu() to ensure that the interface's MTU can not be set to anything bigger than CAN_MTU or CANFD_MTU (depending on the device capabilities). By fixing the root cause, this prevents the buffer overflow.

CVSS v3.1

Score 7.8high

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected software

Affected versions
<5.15.0-1100.107~20.04.2<5.15.0-1110.119~20.04.1<5.15.0-1100.109~20.04.1<5.15.0-170.180~20.04.3<5.15.0-1094.97~20.04.1

AI-Powered Analysis

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AILast updated: 07/30/2026, 15:53:07 UTC

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel's can: etas_es58x driver arises because the driver did not implement the net_device_ops->ndo_change_mtu() callback. This omission allowed an attacker to configure an invalid MTU (e.g., 9999) on the CAN interface. Subsequently, by opening a PF_PACKET socket with the ETH_P_CANXL protocol, the attacker could inject CAN XL frames with crafted flags and length fields. The es58x_start_xmit() function misinterprets these frames as CAN(FD) frames and copies data without proper length validation, causing a buffer overflow of up to 247 bytes. The root cause was fixed by populating ndo_change_mtu() to restrict MTU settings to valid CAN or CANFD MTU sizes, preventing the overflow.

Potential Impact

Successful exploitation allows a local attacker to cause a buffer overflow in the CAN driver, potentially leading to memory corruption with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system. This could result in arbitrary code execution or system crashes.

Mitigation Recommendations

A fix is available that populates the net_device_ops->ndo_change_mtu() callback in the etas_es58x driver to restrict MTU values to valid ranges. Users should apply the official Linux kernel updates that include this patch. Since this is a kernel vulnerability, upgrading to a fixed kernel version is the recommended remediation. Patch status is not explicitly confirmed in the provided data; check the vendor or Linux kernel advisories for the exact fixed versions and apply updates accordingly.

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Technical Details

Gcve Source
db.gcve.eu
Osv Id
GHSA-5q82-r42m-g49m
Osv Schema Version
1.4.0
Aliases
["CVE-2025-39988"]
Database Specific Severity
HIGH
Cvss Version
3.1

Threat ID: 6a6b72d89c2644c7f847be28

Added to database: 07/30/2026, 15:50:48 UTC

Last enriched: 07/30/2026, 15:53:07 UTC

Last updated: 09/12/2026, 10:01:28 UTC

Views: 48

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