Local privilege escalation via reentrant QFQ enqueue
Published May 20, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Memory corruption in affected Linux kernel versions starting at 5.0 allows local users to gain kernel privileges via QFQ/netem traffic. A reentrant QFQ enqueue adds the same class to agg->active twice without first checking cl_is_active, leaving a dangling class pointer after removal. An unprivileged user can obtain the required CAP_NET_ADMIN in a new user namespace; exploitation can read or modify kernel memory or crash the host.
Summary
What happened
Memory corruption in affected Linux kernel versions starting at 5.0 allows local users to gain kernel privileges via QFQ/netem traffic. A reentrant QFQ enqueue adds the same class to agg->active twice without first checking cl_is_active, leaving a dangling class pointer after removal. An unprivileged user can obtain the required CAP_NET_ADMIN in a new user namespace; exploitation can read or modify kernel memory or crash the host.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-37913
- Published
- May 20, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 20, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <005a479540478a820c52de098e5e767e63e36f0a
- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <041f410aec2c1751ee22b8b73ba05d38c3a6a602
- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <0aa23e0856b7cedb3c88d8e3d281c212c7e4fbeb
- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <0bf32d6fb1fcbf841bb9945570e0e2a70072c00f
- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <370218e8ce711684acc4cdd3cc3c6dd7956bc165
- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <53bc0b55178bd59bdd4bcd16349505cabf54b1a2
- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <a43783119e01849fbf2fe8855634e8989b240cb4
- Affected versionversion=37d9cf1a3ce35de3df6f7d209bfb1f50cf188cea <f139f37dcdf34b67f5bf92bc8e0f7f6b3ac63aa4
- Affected versionversion=5.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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