Linux Kernel up to 6.6.116/6.12.58/6.17.8 widen_imprecise_scalars out-of-bounds

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.116/6.12.58/6.17.8. This issue affects the function widen_imprecise_scalars. The manipulation results in out-of-bounds. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-68208. No exploit is available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.116/6.12.58/6.17.8. Affected is the function widen_imprecise_scalars. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a out-of-bounds vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-125. The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: account for current allocated stack depth in widen_imprecise_scalars() The usage pattern for widen_imprecise_scalars() looks as follows: prev_st = find_prev_entry(env, ...); queued_st = push_stack(...); widen_imprecise_scalars(env, prev_st, queued_st); Where prev_st is an ancestor of the queued_st in the explored states tree. This ancestor is not guaranteed to have same allocated stack depth as queued_st. E.g. in the following case: def main(): for i in 1..2: foo(i) // same callsite, differnt param def foo(i): if i == 1: use 128 bytes of stack iterator based loop Here, for a second 'foo' call prev_st->allocated_stack is 128, while queued_st->allocated_stack is much smaller. widen_imprecise_scalars() needs to take this into account and avoid accessing bpf_verifier_state->frame[*]->stack out of bounds.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-68208 since 12/16/2025. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 296481 (SUSE SLES15 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2026:0278-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.117, 6.12.59 or 6.17.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 64b12dca2b0abcb5fc0542887d18b926ea5cf711/9944c7938cd5b3f37b0afec0481c7c015e4f1c58/57e04e2ff56e32f923154f0f7bc476fcb596ffe7/b0c8e6d3d866b6a7f73877f71968dbffd27b7785 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 (296481) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2868). Once again VulDB remains the best 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

• 6.6.116
• 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
• 6.12.58
• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2
• 6.17.3
• 6.17.4
• 6.17.5
• 6.17.6
• 6.17.7
• 6.17.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

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Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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