Linux Kernel up to 6.17.12/6.18.1 usb gaokun_ucsi_probe use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.12/6.18.1. This affects the function gaokun_ucsi_probe of the component usb. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-68323. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.12/6.18.1. This affects the function gaokun_ucsi_probe of the component usb. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: typec: ucsi: fix use-after-free caused by uec->work The delayed work uec->work is scheduled in gaokun_ucsi_probe() but never properly canceled in gaokun_ucsi_remove(). This creates use-after-free scenarios where the ucsi and gaokun_ucsi structure are freed after ucsi_destroy() completes execution, while the gaokun_ucsi_register_worker() might be either currently executing or still pending in the work queue. The already-freed gaokun_ucsi or ucsi structure may then be accessed. Furthermore, the race window is 3 seconds, which is sufficiently long to make this bug easily reproducible. The following is the trace captured by KASAN: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __run_timers+0x5ec/0x630 Write of size 8 at addr ffff00000ec28cc8 by task swapper/0/0 ... Call trace: show_stack+0x18/0x24 (C) dump_stack_lvl+0x78/0x90 print_report+0x114/0x580 kasan_report+0xa4/0xf0 __asan_report_store8_noabort+0x20/0x2c __run_timers+0x5ec/0x630 run_timer_softirq+0xe8/0x1cc handle_softirqs+0x294/0x720 __do_softirq+0x14/0x20 ____do_softirq+0x10/0x1c call_on_irq_stack+0x30/0x48 do_softirq_own_stack+0x1c/0x28 __irq_exit_rcu+0x27c/0x364 irq_exit_rcu+0x10/0x1c el1_interrupt+0x40/0x60 el1h_64_irq_handler+0x18/0x24 el1h_64_irq+0x6c/0x70 arch_local_irq_enable+0x4/0x8 (P) do_idle+0x334/0x458 cpu_startup_entry+0x60/0x70 rest_init+0x158/0x174 start_kernel+0x2f8/0x394 __primary_switched+0x8c/0x94 Allocated by task 72 on cpu 0 at 27.510341s: kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x54 kasan_save_track+0x24/0x5c kasan_save_alloc_info+0x40/0x54 __kasan_kmalloc+0xa0/0xb8 __kmalloc_node_track_caller_noprof+0x1c0/0x588 devm_kmalloc+0x7c/0x1c8 gaokun_ucsi_probe+0xa0/0x840 auxiliary_bus_probe+0x94/0xf8 really_probe+0x17c/0x5b8 __driver_probe_device+0x158/0x2c4 driver_probe_device+0x10c/0x264 __device_attach_driver+0x168/0x2d0 bus_for_each_drv+0x100/0x188 __device_attach+0x174/0x368 device_initial_probe+0x14/0x20 bus_probe_device+0x120/0x150 device_add+0xb3c/0x10fc __auxiliary_device_add+0x88/0x130 ... Freed by task 73 on cpu 1 at 28.910627s: kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x54 kasan_save_track+0x24/0x5c __kasan_save_free_info+0x4c/0x74 __kasan_slab_free+0x60/0x8c kfree+0xd4/0x410 devres_release_all+0x140/0x1f0 device_unbind_cleanup+0x20/0x190 device_release_driver_internal+0x344/0x460 device_release_driver+0x18/0x24 bus_remove_device+0x198/0x274 device_del+0x310/0xa84 ... The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff00000ec28c00 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-512 of size 512 The buggy address is located 200 bytes inside of freed 512-byte region The buggy address belongs to the physical page: page: refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x4ec28 head: order:2 mapcount:0 entire_mapcount:0 nr_pages_mapped:0 pincount:0 flags: 0x3fffe0000000040(head|node=0|zone=0|lastcpupid=0x1ffff) page_type: f5(slab) raw: 03fffe0000000040 ffff000008801c80 dead000000000122 0000000000000000 raw: 0000000000000000 0000000080100010 00000000f5000000 0000000000000000 head: 03fffe0000000040 ffff000008801c80 dead000000000122 0000000000000000 head: 0000000000000000 0000000080100010 00000000f5000000 0000000000000000 head: 03fffe0000000002 fffffdffc03b0a01 00000000ffffffff 00000000ffffffff head: ffffffffffffffff 0000000000000000 00000000ffffffff 0000000000000004 page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected Memory state around the buggy address: ffff00000ec28b80: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc ffff00000ec28c00: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb >ffff00000ec28c80: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ^ ffff00000ec28d00: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ffff00000ec28d80: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ================================================================ ---truncated---

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-68323 since 12/16/2025. The exploitability is told 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 12/20/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279254 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-68323), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.17.13, 6.18.2 or 6.19-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d8ac85c76a4279979b917d4b2f9c6b07d9783003/a880ef71a1c8da266b88491213c37893e2126489/2b7a0f47aaf2439d517ba0a6b29c66a535302154 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 (279254) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2904). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.17.11
• 6.17.12
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

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Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

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