Linux Kernel up to 6.17.10 USB Protocol ioctl_sg01 memory leak

| CVSS Meta Temp Score | Current Exploit Price (≈) | CTI Interest Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | $0-$5k | 0.00 |
Summary
A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.10. Affected is the function ioctl_sg01 of the component USB Protocol. The manipulation results in memory leak.
This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2025-68288. No exploit exists.
Upgrading the affected component is recommended.
Details
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.10. Affected is the function ioctl_sg01 of the component USB Protocol. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: storage: Fix memory leak in USB bulk transport A kernel memory leak was identified by the 'ioctl_sg01' test from Linux Test Project (LTP). The following bytes were mainly observed: 0x53425355. When USB storage devices incorrectly skip the data phase with status data, the code extracts/validates the CSW from the sg buffer, but fails to clear it afterwards. This leaves status protocol data in srb's transfer buffer, such as the US_BULK_CS_SIGN 'USBS' signature observed here. Thus, this can lead to USB protocols leaks to user space through SCSI generic (/dev/sg*) interfaces, such as the one seen here when the LTP test requested 512 KiB. Fix the leak by zeroing the CSW data in srb's transfer buffer immediately after the validation of devices that skip data phase. Note: Differently from CVE-2018-1000204, which fixed a big leak by zero- ing pages at allocation time, this leak occurs after allocation, when USB protocol data is written to already-allocated sg pages.
The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-68288 since 12/16/2025. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.
The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 282382 (Amazon Linux 2023 : bpftool, kernel, kernel-devel (ALAS2023-2025-1350)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.
Upgrading to version 5.10.247, 5.15.197, 6.1.159, 6.6.119, 6.12.61 or 6.17.11 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 83f0241959831586d9b6d47f6bd5d3dec8f43bf0/4ba515dfff7eeca369ab85cdbb3f3b231c71720c/467fec3cefbeb9e3ea80f457da9a5666a71ca0d0/cb1401b5bcc2feb5b038fc4b512e5968b016e05e/0f18eac44c5668204bf6eebb01ddb369ac56932b/5b815ddb3f5560fac35b16de3a2a22d5f81c5993/41e99fe2005182139b1058db71f0d241f8f0078c 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 (282382) 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
Product
Type
Vendor
Name
Version
- 5.10.246
- 5.15.196
- 6.1.158
- 6.6.118
- 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
- 6.12.59
- 6.12.60
- 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
- 6.17.9
- 6.17.10
License
Website
- Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/
CPE 2.3
CPE 2.2
CVSSv4
VulDB Vector: 🔒VulDB Reliability: 🔍
CVSSv3
VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.7VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.5
VulDB Base Score: 5.7
VulDB Temp Score: 5.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍
CVSSv2
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍
Exploiting
Class: Memory leakCWE: CWE-401 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒
Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Partially
Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒
| 0-Day | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock |
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Nessus ID: 282382
Nessus Name: Amazon Linux 2023 : bpftool, kernel, kernel-devel (ALAS2023-2025-1350)
Threat Intelligence
Interest: 🔍Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍
Countermeasures
Recommended: UpgradeStatus: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔒
Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.247/5.15.197/6.1.159/6.6.119/6.12.61/6.17.11
Patch: 83f0241959831586d9b6d47f6bd5d3dec8f43bf0/4ba515dfff7eeca369ab85cdbb3f3b231c71720c/467fec3cefbeb9e3ea80f457da9a5666a71ca0d0/cb1401b5bcc2feb5b038fc4b512e5968b016e05e/0f18eac44c5668204bf6eebb01ddb369ac56932b/5b815ddb3f5560fac35b16de3a2a22d5f81c5993/41e99fe2005182139b1058db71f0d241f8f0078c
Timeline
12/16/2025 Advisory disclosed12/16/2025 CVE reserved
12/16/2025 VulDB entry created
02/22/2026 VulDB entry last update
Sources
Vendor: kernel.orgAdvisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed
CVE: CVE-2025-68288 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-68288
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-336852
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-2868 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen
Entry
Created: 12/16/2025 17:48Updated: 02/22/2026 07:09
Changes: 12/16/2025 17:48 (59), 01/09/2026 14:22 (2), 01/20/2026 07:46 (7), 02/04/2026 07:16 (1), 02/22/2026 07:09 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
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