Linux Kernel up to 6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1 KVM use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component KVM. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2025-68810. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown function of the component KVM. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Disallow toggling KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD on an existing memslot Reject attempts to disable KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD on a memslot that was initially created with a guest_memfd binding, as KVM doesn't support toggling KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD on existing memslots. KVM prevents enabling KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD, but doesn't prevent clearing the flag. Failure to reject the new memslot results in a use-after-free due to KVM not unbinding from the guest_memfd instance. Unbinding on a FLAGS_ONLY change is easy enough, and can/will be done as a hardening measure (in anticipation of KVM supporting dirty logging on guest_memfd at some point), but fixing the use-after-free would only address the immediate symptom. ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in kvm_gmem_release+0x362/0x400 [kvm] Write of size 8 at addr ffff8881111ae908 by task repro/745 CPU: 7 UID: 1000 PID: 745 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.18.0-rc6-115d5de2eef3-next-kasan #3 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x51/0x60 print_report+0xcb/0x5c0 kasan_report+0xb4/0xe0 kvm_gmem_release+0x362/0x400 [kvm] __fput+0x2fa/0x9d0 task_work_run+0x12c/0x200 do_exit+0x6ae/0x2100 do_group_exit+0xa8/0x230 __x64_sys_exit_group+0x3a/0x50 x64_sys_call+0x737/0x740 do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x900 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 RIP: 0033:0x7f581f2eac31 </TASK> Allocated by task 745 on cpu 6 at 9.746971s: kasan_save_stack+0x20/0x40 kasan_save_track+0x13/0x50 __kasan_kmalloc+0x77/0x90 kvm_set_memory_region.part.0+0x652/0x1110 [kvm] kvm_vm_ioctl+0x14b0/0x3290 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x129/0x1a0 do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x900 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 Freed by task 745 on cpu 6 at 9.747467s: kasan_save_stack+0x20/0x40 kasan_save_track+0x13/0x50 __kasan_save_free_info+0x37/0x50 __kasan_slab_free+0x3b/0x60 kfree+0xf5/0x440 kvm_set_memslot+0x3c2/0x1160 [kvm] kvm_set_memory_region.part.0+0x86a/0x1110 [kvm] kvm_vm_ioctl+0x14b0/0x3290 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x129/0x1a0 do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x900 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-68810 since 12/24/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 03/27/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 299777 (Oracle Linux 10 / 9 : Unbreakable Enterprise kernel (ELSA-2026-50112)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.64, 6.18.3 or 6.19-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 89dbbe6ff323fc34659621a577fe0af913f47386/cb51bef465d8ec60a968507330e01020e35dc127/9935df5333aa503a18de5071f53762b65c783c4c 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 (299777) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0086). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.19-rc1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion