CVE-2025-68780

Deadline-task starvation via stale offline-CPU state

Published Jan 13, 2026 · Updated Jan 13, 2026

Scheduler state corruption in the Linux Kernel allows local users to prevent deadline-scheduled tasks from running after CPU hotplug. The cpudl_clear function sets a free_cpus bit for an offline deadline runqueue, and cpudl_find later treats the powered-down CPU as eligible. The condition requires low-privileged local access plus CPU hotplug and deadline-task migration; affected tasks remain starved rather than executing.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Scheduler state corruption in the Linux Kernel allows local users to prevent deadline-scheduled tasks from running after CPU hotplug. The cpudl_clear function sets a free_cpus bit for an offline deadline runqueue, and cpudl_find later treats the powered-down CPU as eligible. The condition requires low-privileged local access plus CPU hotplug and deadline-task migration; affected tasks remain starved rather than executing.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-68780
Published
Jan 13, 2026
Updated
Jan 13, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 13, 2026Record 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=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <382748c05e58a9f1935f5a653c352422375566ea
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3ed049fbfb4d75b4e0b8ab54c934f485129d5dc8
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <91e448e69aca4bb0ba2e998eb3e555644db7322b
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <dbc61834b0412435df21c71410562d933e4eba49
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <fb36846cbcc936954f2ad2bffdff13d16c0be08a

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <382748c05e58a9f1935f5a653c352422375566ea; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <3ed049fbfb4d75b4e0b8ab54c934f485129d5dc8; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <91e448e69aca4bb0ba2e998eb3e555644db7322b; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <dbc61834b0412435df21c71410562d933e4eba49; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <fb36846cbcc936954f2ad2bffdff13d16c0be08a

Published CVSS scores

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

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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