Kernel crash via inconsistent DMA-channel error return
Published Dec 16, 2025 · Updated Dec 16, 2025
An error-handling flaw in the Linux kernel before 6.18 causes a kernel crash when TI NetCP DMA-channel initialization fails. The knav_dma_open_channel implementation returns neither NULL nor ERR_PTR on some failures, so netcp_free_navigator_resources passes an invalid channel value to knav_dma_close_channel. Exposure is limited to systems using the TI NetCP path on Keystone hardware, and the documented consequence is an alignment fault and kernel crash during interface bring-up.
Summary
What happened
An error-handling flaw in the Linux kernel before 6.18 causes a kernel crash when TI NetCP DMA-channel initialization fails. The knav_dma_open_channel implementation returns neither NULL nor ERR_PTR on some failures, so netcp_free_navigator_resources passes an invalid channel value to knav_dma_close_channel. Exposure is limited to systems using the TI NetCP path on Keystone hardware, and the documented consequence is an alignment fault and kernel crash during interface bring-up.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-68220
- Published
- Dec 16, 2025
- Updated
- Dec 16, 2025
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 16, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Dec 16, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=4.12
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <2572c358ee434ce4b994472cceeb4043cbff5bc5
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <3afeb909c3e2e0eb19b1e20506196e5f2d9c2259
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <8427218ecbd7f8559c37972e66cb0fa06e82353b
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <90a88306eb874fe4bbdd860e6c9787f5bbc588b5
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <952637c5b9be64539cd0e13ef88db71a1df46373
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <af6b10a13fc0aee37df4a8292414cc055c263fa3
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <f9608637ecc165d7d6341df105aee44691461fb9
- Affected versionversion=5b6cb43b4d625b04a4049d727a116edbfe5cf0f4 <fbb53727ca789a8d27052aab4b77ca9e2a0fae2b
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
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