Findings

CVE-2025-40169

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops When verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function v…

Published Nov 12, 2025 · updated Oct 15, 2026

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops When verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function validates instructions with ALU operations. The 'offset' field in these instructions is a signed 16-bit integer. The existing check 'insn->off > 1' was intended to ensure the offset is either 0, or 1 for BPF_MOD/BPF_DIV. However, because 'insn->off' is signed, this check incorrectly accepts all negative values (e.g., -1). This commit tightens the validation by changing the condition to '(insn->off != 0 && insn->off != 1)'. This ensures that any value other than the explicitly permitted 0 and 1 is rejected, hardening the verifier against malformed BPF programs.

Code

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Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Nov 12, 2025 · NIST NVD

    Detected

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops When verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function validates instructions with ALU operations. The 'offset' field in these instructions is a signed 16-bit integer. The existing check 'insn->off > 1' was intended to ensure the offset is either 0, or 1 for BPF_MOD/BPF_DIV. However, beca

  2. Oct 15, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Updated

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops When verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function validates instructions with ALU operations. The 'offset' field in these instructions is a signed 16-bit integer. The existing check 'insn->off > 1' was intended to ensure the offset is either 0, or 1 for BPF_MOD/BPF_DIV. However, beca

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2025-40169

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2025-40169

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject negative offsets for ALU ops When verifying BPF programs, the check_alu_op() function validates instructions with ALU operations. The 'offset' field in these instructions is a signed 16-bit integer.

    nvd.nist.gov

References

CVE-2025-40169 · ZeroDay Findings