can: sun4i_can: populate ndo_change_mtu() to prevent buffer overflow
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: sun4i_can: 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 sun4i_can 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, sun4ican_start_xmit() receives a CAN XL frame which it is not able to correctly handle and will thus misinterpret it as a CAN frame. This can result in a buffer overflow. The driver will consume cf->len as-is with no further checks on this line: dlc = 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 a couple line below when doing: for (i = 0; i < dlc; i++) writel(cf->data[i], priv->base + (dreg + i * 4)); Populate net_device_ops->ndo_change_mtu() to ensure that the interface's MTU can not be set to anything bigger than CAN_MTU. By fixing the root cause, this prevents the buffer overflow.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.4 and later | 5.4.300, 5.10.245, 5.15.194, 6.1.155, 6.6.109, 6.12.50, 6.16.10, 6.17 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.4 and later Fixed in 5.4.300, 5.10.245, 5.15.194, 6.1.155, 6.6.109, 6.12.50, 6.16.10, 6.17 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.4.300, 5.10.245, 5.15.194, 6.1.155, 6.6.109, 6.12.50, 6.16.10, 6.17
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-39986
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-6p7j-vrw4-43wh
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/063539db42203b29d5aa2adf0cae3d68c646a6b6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f382cc887adca8478b9d3e6b81aa6698a95fff4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/60463a1c138900494cb3adae41142a11cd8feb3c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a61ff7ac93270d20ca426c027d6d01c8ac8e904c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2e423e1990f3972cbea779883fef52c2f2acb858
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de77841652e57afbc46e9e1dbf51ee364fc008e1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f7b21026a6febdb749f6f6f950427245aa86cce
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61da0bd4102c459823fbe6b8b43b01fb6ace4a22
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Sources
- CVE-2025-39986 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-39986 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-6p7j-vrw4-43wh · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-39986 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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