CVE-2025-38468: kernel: net/sched: Return NULL when htb_lookup_leaf encounters an empty rbtree
Component: kernel
Severity: Moderate
CWE: CWE-754 (Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions)
CVSS v3: 5.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)
Public date: 2025-07-28T00:00:00+00:00

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

net/sched: Return NULL when htb_lookup_leaf encounters an empty rbtree

htb_lookup_leaf has a BUG_ON that can trigger with the following:

tc qdisc del dev lo root
tc qdisc add dev lo root handle 1: htb default 1
tc class add dev lo parent 1: classid 1:1 htb rate 64bit
tc qdisc add dev lo parent 1:1 handle 2: netem
tc qdisc add dev lo parent 2:1 handle 3: blackhole
ping -I lo -c1 -W0.001 127.0.0.1

The root cause is the following:

1. htb_dequeue calls htb_dequeue_tree which calls the dequeue handler on
   the selected leaf qdisc
2. netem_dequeue calls enqueue on the child qdisc
3. blackhole_enqueue drops the packet and returns a value that is not
   just NET_XMIT_SUCCESS
4. Because of this, netem_dequeue calls qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog, and
   since qlen is now 0, it calls htb_qlen_notify -> htb_deactivate ->
   htb_deactiviate_prios -> htb_remove_class_from_row -> htb_safe_rb_erase
5. As this is the only class in the selected hprio rbtree,
   __rb_change_child in __rb_erase_augmented sets the rb_root pointer to
   NULL
6. Because blackhole_dequeue returns NULL, netem_dequeue returns NULL,
   which causes htb_dequeue_tree to call htb_lookup_leaf with the same
   hprio rbtree, and fail the BUG_ON

The function graph for this scenario is shown here:
 0)               |  htb_enqueue() {
 0) + 13.635 us   |    netem_enqueue();
 0)   4.719 us    |    htb_activate_prios();
 0) # 2249.199 us |  }
 0)               |  htb_dequeue() {
 0)   2.355 us    |    htb_lookup_leaf();
 0)               |    netem_dequeue() {
 0) + 11.061 us   |      blackhole_enqueue();
 0)               |      qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog() {
 0)               |        qdisc_lookup_rcu() {
 0)   1.873 us    |          qdisc_match_from_root();
 0)   6.292 us    |        }
 0)   1.894 us    |        htb_search();
 0)               |        htb_qlen_notify() {
 0)   2.655 us    |          htb_deactivate_prios();
 0)   6.933 us    |        }
 0) + 25.227 us   |      }
 0)   1.983 us    |      blackhole_dequeue();
 0) + 86.553 us   |    }
 0) # 2932.761 us |    qdisc_warn_nonwc();
 0)               |    htb_lookup_leaf() {
 0)               |      BUG_ON();
 ------------------------------------------

The full original bug report can be seen here [1].

We can fix this just by returning NULL instead of the BUG_ON,
as htb_dequeue_tree returns NULL when htb_lookup_leaf returns
NULL.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/pF5XOOIim0IuEfhI-SOxTgRvNoDwuux7UHKnE_Y5-zVd4wmGvNk2ceHjKb8ORnzw0cGwfmVu42g9dL7XyJLf1NEzaztboTWcm0Ogxuojoeo=@willsroot.io/

Statement: This is denial-of-service vulnerability in htb_lookup_leaf() within the Linux kernel's traffic control (net/sched) subsystem. A local attacker with CAP_NET_ADMIN (e.g., via unprivileged user namespaces) can trigger a kernel panic by manipulating qdisc trees using tc, causing a BUG_ON due to an empty red-black tree.

Affected upstream versions: 2.6.29
Fixed upstream versions: 0, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 5.4.297, 6.1.147, 6.12.40, 6.15.8, 6.16, 6.6.100
Upstream repository: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Upstream fix commit: fed3570e548a6c9f95c5f4c9e1a7afc1679fd90d