Linux Kernel up to 6.12.62/6.17.12/6.18.1 LED Driver null pointer dereference

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4.6$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.62/6.17.12/6.18.1. The impacted element is an unknown function of the component LED Driver. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2025-68758. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.62/6.17.12/6.18.1. It has been classified as critical. Affected is an unknown functionality of the component LED Driver. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: backlight: led-bl: Add devlink to supplier LEDs LED Backlight is a consumer of one or multiple LED class devices, but devlink is currently unable to create correct supplier-producer links when the supplier is a class device. It creates instead a link where the supplier is the parent of the expected device. One consequence is that removal order is not correctly enforced. Issues happen for example with the following sections in a device tree overlay: // An LED driver chip pca9632@62 { compatible = "nxp,pca9632"; reg = <0x62>; // ... addon_led_pwm: led-pwm@3 { reg = <3>; label = "addon:led:pwm"; }; }; backlight-addon { compatible = "led-backlight"; leds = <&addon_led_pwm>; brightness-levels = <255>; default-brightness-level = <255>; }; In this example, the devlink should be created between the backlight-addon (consumer) and the pca9632@62 (supplier). Instead it is created between the backlight-addon (consumer) and the parent of the pca9632@62, which is typically the I2C bus adapter. On removal of the above overlay, the LED driver can be removed before the backlight device, resulting in: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000010 ... Call trace: led_put+0xe0/0x140 devm_led_release+0x6c/0x98 Another way to reproduce the bug without any device tree overlays is unbinding the LED class device (pca9632@62) before unbinding the consumer (backlight-addon): echo 11-0062 >/sys/bus/i2c/drivers/leds-pca963x/unbind echo ...backlight-dock >/sys/bus/platform/drivers/led-backlight/unbind Fix by adding a devlink between the consuming led-backlight device and the supplying LED device, as other drivers and subsystems do as well.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-68758 since 12/24/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 281756 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-68758), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.63, 6.17.13, 6.18.2 or 6.19-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0e63ea4378489e09eb5e920c8a50c10caacf563a/60a24070392ec726ccfe6ad1ca7b0381c8d8f7c9/08c9dc6b0f2c68e5e7c374ac4499e321e435d46c/9341d6698f4cfdfc374fb6944158d111ebe16a9d 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 (281756), EUVD (EUVD-2026-0881) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0009). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

  • Microsoft Azure Linux
  • Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.6

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 281756
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-68758

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.63/6.17.13/6.18.2/6.19-rc1
Patch: 0e63ea4378489e09eb5e920c8a50c10caacf563a/60a24070392ec726ccfe6ad1ca7b0381c8d8f7c9/08c9dc6b0f2c68e5e7c374ac4499e321e435d46c/9341d6698f4cfdfc374fb6944158d111ebe16a9d

Timelineinfo

12/24/2025 CVE reserved
01/05/2026 +12 days Advisory disclosed
01/05/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/12/2026 +7 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-68758 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-68758
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-339522
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2026-0009 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen erm&ouml;glichen Denial of Service

Entryinfo

Created: 01/05/2026 11:11
Updated: 01/12/2026 03:54
Changes: 01/05/2026 11:11 (58), 01/05/2026 11:31 (1), 01/06/2026 04:12 (2), 01/06/2026 06:46 (7), 01/08/2026 11:05 (1), 01/12/2026 03:54 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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