CVE-2025-68742

Kernel crash via NULL stats dereference

Published Dec 24, 2025 · Updated Dec 24, 2025

NULL-pointer dereference in Linux kernel BPF cgroup handling allows local users to trigger a kernel crash through induced allocation failure. The detach error path substitutes dummy_bpf_prog after update_effective_progs fails, then a softirq dereferences the dummy program's NULL stats pointer. Exploitation requires local privileged access and fault injection; the invalid access affects availability without reported data exposure or modification.

CVSS severity5.6
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 17, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

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Summary

What happened

NULL-pointer dereference in Linux kernel BPF cgroup handling allows local users to trigger a kernel crash through induced allocation failure. The detach error path substitutes dummy_bpf_prog after update_effective_progs fails, then a softirq dereferences the dummy program's NULL stats pointer. Exploitation requires local privileged access and fault injection; the invalid access affects availability without reported data exposure or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-68742
Published
Dec 24, 2025
Updated
Dec 24, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

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=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <2579c356ccd35d06238b176e4b460978186d804b
  2. Affected versionversion=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <539137e3038ce6f953efd72110110f03c14c7d97
  3. Affected versionversion=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <56905bb70c8b88421709bb4e32fcba617aa37d41
  4. Affected versionversion=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <7dc211c1159d991db609bdf4b0fb9033c04adcbc
  5. Affected versionversion=5.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <2579c356ccd35d06238b176e4b460978186d804b; version=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <539137e3038ce6f953efd72110110f03c14c7d97; version=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <56905bb70c8b88421709bb4e32fcba617aa37d41; version=492ecee892c2a4ba6a14903d5d586ff750b7e805 <7dc211c1159d991db609bdf4b0fb9033c04adcbc; version=5.1

Published CVSS scores

4.1SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.6SUSECVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
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 11, 2026Sep 17, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 17, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
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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