CVE-2025-37864: net: dsa: clean up FDB, MDB, VLAN entries on unbind
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: dsa: clean up FDB, MDB, VLAN entries on unbind
As explained in many places such as commit b117e1e8a86d ("net: dsa:
delete dsa_legacy_fdb_add and dsa_legacy_fdb_del"), DSA is written given
the assumption that higher layers have balanced additions/deletions.
As such, it only makes sense to be extremely vocal when those
assumptions are violated and the driver unbinds with entries still
present.
But Ido Schimmel points out a very simple situation where that is wrong:
https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/ZDazSM5UsPPjQuKr@shredder/
(also briefly discussed by me in the aforementioned commit).
Basically, while the bridge bypass operations are not something that DSA
explicitly documents, and for the majority of DSA drivers this API
simply causes them to go to promiscuous mode, that isn't the case for
all drivers. Some have the necessary requirements for bridge bypass
operations to do something useful - see dsa_switch_supports_uc_filtering().
Although in tools/testing/selftests/net/forwarding/local_termination.sh,
we made an effort to popularize better mechanisms to manage address
filters on DSA interfaces from user space - namely macvlan for unicast,
and setsockopt(IP_ADD_MEMBERSHIP) - through mtools - for multicast, the
fact is that 'bridge fdb add ... self static local' also exists as
kernel UAPI, and might be useful to someone, even if only for a quick
hack.
It seems counter-productive to block that path by implementing shim
.ndo_fdb_add and .ndo_fdb_del operations which just return -EOPNOTSUPP
in order to prevent the ndo_dflt_fdb_add() and ndo_dflt_fdb_del() from
running, although we could do that.
Accepting that cleanup is necessary seems to be the only option.
Especially since we appear to be coming back at this from a different
angle as well. Russell King is noticing that the WARN_ON() triggers even
for VLANs:
https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/Z_li8Bj8bD4-BYKQ@shell.armlinux.org.uk/
What happens in the bug report above is that dsa_port_do_vlan_del() fails,
then the VLAN entry lingers on, and then we warn on unbind and leak it.
This is not a straight revert of the blamed commit, but we now add an
informational print to the kernel log (to still have a way to see
that bugs exist), and some extra comments gathered from past years'
experience, to justify the logic.
Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a Linux kernel networking bug in DSA-managed switches. During driver unbind, leftover forwarding, multicast, or VLAN entries may remain and trigger warnings or leaked state. The public sources do not provide CVSS, confirmed exploitation, or a direct remote attack scenario.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted Linux networking maintenance issue. Prioritize updates for network appliances and embedded platforms using DSA, but avoid emergency escalation absent exploit evidence or vendor severity data.
Technical view
The DSA unbind path assumed higher layers balanced FDB, MDB, and VLAN add/delete operations. Bridge bypass operations and failed VLAN deletion can leave entries present. The fix cleans those entries on unbind and logs informational messages instead of only warning and leaking state.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on Linux systems using Distributed Switch Architecture, especially embedded networking devices or appliances with DSA-capable switch drivers and VLAN, FDB, or multicast entry management.
Exploitation context
The bundle says this is not in KEV and provides no evidence of active exploitation. It describes kernel state cleanup failures, not a published exploit path.
Researcher notes
The source record lacks CVSS, CWE, and exploitability detail. Analysis should focus on DSA unbind behavior, bridge bypass operations, failed VLAN deletions, and whether vendor kernels backported the cleanup commits.
Mitigation direction
Apply the relevant Linux stable kernel update containing the referenced fixes.
Prioritize DSA-based network appliances and embedded Linux platforms.
Check vendor advisories for device-specific kernel backports.
Avoid assuming generic Linux servers are affected without DSA usage evidence.
Validation and detection
Inventory systems using Linux DSA switch drivers.
Check running kernel versions against vendor fixed releases.
Review kernel logs for DSA unbind warnings or lingering VLAN/FDB/MDB cleanup messages.
Confirm appliance firmware includes the referenced stable commits or vendor backports.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Potential ATT&CK relevance
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CVE-2025-37864 mapping review
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These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
6Source links
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
May 9, 2025, 06:43 UTC (UTC+00:00)
CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.