Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2025-37797

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net_sched: hfsc: Fix a UAF vulnerability in class handling This patch fixes a Use-After-Free vulnerability in the HFSC qdisc class handling. The issue occurs due to a time-of-check/time-of-use condition in hfsc_change_class() when working with certain child qdiscs like netem or codel. The vulnerability works as follows: 1. hfsc_change_class() checks if a class has packets (q.qlen != 0) 2. It then calls qdisc_peek_len(), which for certain qdiscs (e.g., codel, netem) might drop packets and empty the queue 3. The code continues assuming the queue is still non-empty, adding the class to vttree 4. This breaks HFSC scheduler assumptions that only non-empty classes are in vttree 5. Later, when the class is destroyed, this can lead to a Use-After-Free The fix adds a second queue length check after qdisc_peek_len() to verify the queue wasn't emptied.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

EPSS: 0.002 (8.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-37797?
CVE-2025-37797 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-05-02.
How severe is CVE-2025-37797?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-37797 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.