QEMU e1000 Driver Buffer Overflow Enables Host DoS
CVE-2025-12464 Published on October 31, 2025
Qemu-kvm: stack buffer overflow in e1000 device via short frames in loopback mode
A stack-based buffer overflow was found in the QEMU e1000 network device. The code for padding short frames was dropped from individual network devices and moved to the net core code. The issue stems from the device's receive code still being able to process a short frame in loopback mode. This could lead to a buffer overrun in the e1000_receive_iov() function via the loopback code path. A malicious guest user could use this vulnerability to crash the QEMU process on the host, resulting in a denial of service.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-12464 is exploitable with local system access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.
Timeline
Reported to Red Hat.
Made public.
Weakness Type
What is a Stack Overflow Vulnerability?
A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function).
CVE-2025-12464 has been classified to as a Stack Overflow vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-12464
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Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.