CVE-2025-68245

Kernel memory leaks via premature netpoll cleanup

Published Dec 16, 2025 · Updated Dec 16, 2025

Improper cleanup in Linux kernel netpoll allows local users to leak kernel memory by repeatedly tearing down shared targets. The cleanup path clears dev->npinfo while its reference count is still nonzero, so later cleanup skips the driver callback and leaves npinfo and skb-pool allocations behind. Reachability requires multiple netpoll instances on one network device; repeated teardown consumes kernel memory without a reported data-integrity impact.

CVSS severity6.1
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

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Summary

What happened

Improper cleanup in Linux kernel netpoll allows local users to leak kernel memory by repeatedly tearing down shared targets. The cleanup path clears dev->npinfo while its reference count is still nonzero, so later cleanup skips the driver callback and leaves npinfo and skb-pool allocations behind. Reachability requires multiple netpoll instances on one network device; repeated teardown consumes kernel memory without a reported data-integrity impact.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-68245
Published
Dec 16, 2025
Updated
Dec 16, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 16, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=3.17
  2. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <49c8d2c1f94cc2f4d1a108530d7ba52614b874c2
  3. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <4afd4ebbad52aa146838ec23082ba393e426a2bb
  4. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <890472d6fbf062e6de7fdd56642cb305ab79d669
  5. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <8e6a50edad11e3e1426e4c29e7aa6201f3468ac2
  6. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <9a51b5ccd1c79afec1c03a4e1e6688da52597556
  7. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <9b0bb18b4b9dc017c1825a2c5e763615e34a1593
  8. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <c645693180a98606c430825223d2029315d85e9d
  9. Affected versionversion=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <c79a6d9da29219616b118a3adce9a14cd30f9bd0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=3.17; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <49c8d2c1f94cc2f4d1a108530d7ba52614b874c2; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <4afd4ebbad52aa146838ec23082ba393e426a2bb; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <890472d6fbf062e6de7fdd56642cb305ab79d669; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <8e6a50edad11e3e1426e4c29e7aa6201f3468ac2; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <9a51b5ccd1c79afec1c03a4e1e6688da52597556; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <9b0bb18b4b9dc017c1825a2c5e763615e34a1593; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <c645693180a98606c430825223d2029315d85e9d; version=efa95b01da18ad22af62f6d99a3243f3be8fd264 <c79a6d9da29219616b118a3adce9a14cd30f9bd0

Published CVSS scores

5.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
6.1OracleCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
5.5Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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