Linux Kernel up to 6.19-rc2 __io_openat_prep memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.159/6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc2 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects the function __io_openat_prep. This manipulation causes memory leak. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-68814. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.159/6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc2. Affected by this vulnerability is the function __io_openat_prep. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring: fix filename leak in __io_openat_prep() __io_openat_prep() allocates a struct filename using getname(). However, for the condition of the file being installed in the fixed file table as well as having O_CLOEXEC flag set, the function returns early. At that point, the request doesn't have REQ_F_NEED_CLEANUP flag set. Due to this, the memory for the newly allocated struct filename is not cleaned up, causing a memory leak. Fix this by setting the REQ_F_NEED_CLEANUP for the request just after the successful getname() call, so that when the request is torn down, the filename will be cleaned up, along with other resources needing cleanup.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-68814 since 12/24/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 298659 (Debian dla-4476 : linux-config-6.1 - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.64, 6.18.3 or 6.19-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 8f44c4a550570cd5903625133f938c6b51310c9b/18b99fa603d0df5e1c898699c17d3b92ddc80746/e232269d511566b1f80872256a48593acc1becf4/7fbfb85b05bc960cc50e09d03e5e562131e48d45/b14fad555302a2104948feaff70503b64c80ac01 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 vulnerability database at Tenable (298659). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.159
• 6.6.119
• 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
• 6.19-rc2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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