Linux Kernel up to 6.12.57/6.17.7 ring_buffer_map_get_reader buffer overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.57/6.17.7. This affects the function ring_buffer_map_get_reader. The manipulation leads to buffer overflow. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-68186. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.57/6.17.7 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function ring_buffer_map_get_reader. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ring-buffer: Do not warn in ring_buffer_map_get_reader() when reader catches up The function ring_buffer_map_get_reader() is a bit more strict than the other get reader functions, and except for certain situations the rb_get_reader_page() should not return NULL. If it does, it triggers a warning. This warning was triggering but after looking at why, it was because another acceptable situation was happening and it wasn't checked for. If the reader catches up to the writer and there's still data to be read on the reader page, then the rb_get_reader_page() will return NULL as there's no new page to get. In this situation, the reader page should not be updated and no warning should trigger.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-68186 since 12/16/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/21/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 298897 (Ubuntu 25.10 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-8029-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.58 or 6.17.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b42dbef4f208326271434d5ab71c4129a3ddd1a9/6f5c4f8109fa4d0955b3712597a26b310bdc736f/aa997d2d2a0b2e76f4df0f1f12829f02acb4fb6b is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (298897) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2868). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2
• 6.17.3
• 6.17.4
• 6.17.5
• 6.17.6
• 6.17.7

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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