CVE-2025-68375

Local crash via premature PEBS pointer clearing

Published Dec 24, 2025 · Updated Dec 24, 2025

NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel perf/x86 subsystem allows local users to crash the system via grouped Intel PEBS events. intel_pmu_drain_pebs_icl() sends one event's final record through perf_event_overflow(), whose throttling path calls x86_pmu_stop() and clears every cpuc->events[] pointer before the drain loop accesses the next grouped event. Reachability requires x86 hardware with PEBS and permission to configure the relevant perf events; the failure is limited to availability and potential PEBS record loss.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel perf/x86 subsystem allows local users to crash the system via grouped Intel PEBS events. intel_pmu_drain_pebs_icl() sends one event's final record through perf_event_overflow(), whose throttling path calls x86_pmu_stop() and clears every cpuc->events[] pointer before the drain loop accesses the next grouped event. Reachability requires x86 hardware with PEBS and permission to configure the relevant perf events; the failure is limited to availability and potential PEBS record loss.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-68375
Published
Dec 24, 2025
Updated
Dec 24, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 24, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 24, 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=6.16
  2. Affected versionversion=9734e25fbf5ae68eb04234b2cd14a4b36ab89141 <6b089028bff1f2ff9e0c62b8f1faca1a620e5d6e
  3. Affected versionversion=9734e25fbf5ae68eb04234b2cd14a4b36ab89141 <7e772a93eb61cb6265bdd1c5bde17d0f2718b452
  4. Affected versionversion=9734e25fbf5ae68eb04234b2cd14a4b36ab89141 <cf69b99805c263117305ac6dffbc85aaf9259d32

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.16; version=9734e25fbf5ae68eb04234b2cd14a4b36ab89141 <6b089028bff1f2ff9e0c62b8f1faca1a620e5d6e; version=9734e25fbf5ae68eb04234b2cd14a4b36ab89141 <7e772a93eb61cb6265bdd1c5bde17d0f2718b452; version=9734e25fbf5ae68eb04234b2cd14a4b36ab89141 <cf69b99805c263117305ac6dffbc85aaf9259d32

Published CVSS scores

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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