Linux Kernel up to 6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1 remove_pending reference count

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function remove_pending. The manipulation leads to reference count. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-68775. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.2/6.19-rc1. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function remove_pending. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a reference count vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-911. The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/handshake: duplicate handshake cancellations leak socket When a handshake request is cancelled it is removed from the handshake_net->hn_requests list, but it is still present in the handshake_rhashtbl until it is destroyed. If a second cancellation request arrives for the same handshake request, then remove_pending() will return false... and assuming HANDSHAKE_F_REQ_COMPLETED isn't set in req->hr_flags, we'll continue processing through the out_true label, where we put another reference on the sock and a refcount underflow occurs. This can happen for example if a handshake times out - particularly if the SUNRPC client sends the AUTH_TLS probe to the server but doesn't follow it up with the ClientHello due to a problem with tlshd. When the timeout is hit on the server, the server will send a FIN, which triggers a cancellation request via xs_reset_transport(). When the timeout is hit on the client, another cancellation request happens via xs_tls_handshake_sync(). Add a test_and_set_bit(HANDSHAKE_F_REQ_COMPLETED) in the pending cancel path so duplicate cancels can be detected.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-68775 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 283670 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-68775), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.120, 6.12.64, 6.18.3 or 6.19-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 011ae80c49d9bfa5b4336f8bd387cd25c7593663/e1641177e7fb48a0a5a06658d4aab51da6656659/3c330f1dee3cd92b57e19b9d21dc8ce5970b09be/15564bd67e2975002f2a8e9defee33e321d3183f 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 (283670) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0086). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality 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

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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