CVE-2025-39773: net: bridge: fix soft lockup in br_multicast_query_expired()

Published Sep 11, 2025
·
Updated

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

net: bridge: fix soft lockup in brmulticastqueryexpired()

When set multicastqueryinterval to a large value, the local variable 'time' in brmulticastsendquery() may overflow. If the time is smaller than jiffies, the timer will expire immediately, and then call modtimer() again, which creates a loop and may trigger the following soft lockup issue.

watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 221s! [rbconsumer:66] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 66 Comm: rbconsumer Not tainted 6.16.0+ #259 PREEMPT(none) Call Trace: <IRQ> netdevallocskb+0x2e/0x3a0 brip6multicastallocquery+0x212/0x1b70 brmulticastsendquery+0x376/0xac0 brmulticastsendquery+0x299/0x510 brmulticastqueryexpired.constprop.0+0x16d/0x1b0 calltimerfn+0x3b/0x2a0 runtimers+0x619/0x950 runtimersoftirq+0x11c/0x220 handlesoftirqs+0x18e/0x560 irqexitrcu+0x158/0x1a0 sysvecapictimerinterrupt+0x76/0x90 </IRQ>

This issue can be reproduced with: ip link add br0 type bridge echo 1 > /sys/class/net/br0/bridge/multicastquerier echo 0xffffffffffffffff > /sys/class/net/br0/bridge/multicastqueryinterval ip link set dev br0 up

The multicaststartupqueryinterval can also cause this issue. Similar to the commit 99b40610956a ("net: bridge: mcast: add and enforce query interval minimum"), add check for the query interval maximum to fix this issue.

Affected Software

11 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Linux kernel>=6.16.0
Microsoft azl3 kernel 6.6.96.2-2
Linux Linux kernel>=2.6.34<5.15.190
Linux Linux kernel>=5.16<6.1.149
Linux Linux kernel>=6.2<6.6.103
Linux Linux kernel>=6.7<6.12.44
Linux Linux kernel>=6.13<6.16.4
Linux Linux kernel=6.17-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=6.17-rc2
Debian Debian Linux=11.0
Microsoft cbl2 kernel 5.15.186.1-1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Configuration

    Set br0's /sys/class/net/br0/bridge/multicast_query_interval to a safe value within the enforced maximum so that the timer interval does not overflow/underflow and trigger immediate expiration/soft lockup.

    Linux bridge (sysfs) br0 multicast_query_interval = enforce query interval maximum (do not allow values that cause time/jiffies underflow/overflow; avoid very large values such as 0xffffffffffffffff)

Event History

Sep 11, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·04:56 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·04:56 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·05:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Sep 13, 2025
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·01:02 AM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Updated
via Microsoft·08:02 AM
DescriptionSeverity
Updated
via Microsoft·08:02 AM
SeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2025-39773?

CVE-2025-39773 is considered a medium severity vulnerability due to potential local disruption in the Linux kernel.

2

How do I fix CVE-2025-39773?

To fix CVE-2025-39773, update your Linux kernel to a version that includes the patch for this vulnerability.

3

What does CVE-2025-39773 affect?

CVE-2025-39773 affects the Linux kernel version 6.16.0 and later implementations that use the bridge multicast query features.

4

What are the potential consequences of CVE-2025-39773?

The potential consequences of CVE-2025-39773 include a local system lockup when handling multicast queries under specific conditions.

5

In which Linux kernel functions does CVE-2025-39773 manifest?

CVE-2025-39773 manifests in the br_multicast_query_expired() and br_multicast_send_query() functions within the kernel networking code.

Contact

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