CVE-2025-68259

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SVM: Don't skip unrelated instruction if INT3/INTO is replaced When re-injecting a soft interrupt from an INT3, INT0, or (select) INTn instruction, discard the exception and retry the instruction if the code stream is changed (e.g. by a different vCPU) between when the CPU executes the instruction and when KVM decodes the instruction to get the next RIP. As effectively predicted by commit 6ef88d6e36c2 ("KVM: SVM: Re-inject INT3/INTO instead of retrying the instruction"), failure to verify that the correct INTn instruction was decoded can effectively clobber guest state due to decoding the wrong instruction and thus specifying the wrong next RIP. The bug most often manifests as "Oops: int3" panics on static branch checks in Linux guests. Enabling or disabling a static branch in Linux uses the kernel's "text poke" code patching mechanism. To modify code while other CPUs may be executing that code, Linux (temporarily) replaces the first byte of the original instruction with an int3 (opcode 0xcc), then patches in the new code stream except for the first byte, and finally replaces the int3 with the first byte of the new code stream. If a CPU hits the int3, i.e. executes the code while it's being modified, then the guest kernel must look up the RIP to determine how to handle the #BP, e.g. by emulating the new instruction. If the RIP is incorrect, then this lookup fails and the guest kernel panics. The bug reproduces almost instantly by hacking the guest kernel to repeatedly check a static branch[1] while running a drgn script[2] on the host to constantly swap out the memory containing the guest's TSS. [1]: https://gist.github.com/osandov/44d17c51c28c0ac998ea0334edf90b5a [2]: https://gist.github.com/osandov/10e45e45afa29b11e0c7209247afc00b

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-12-16
Last modified 2026-04-15
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.0 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.62, 6.17.12, 6.18.1, 6.19 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 6.0
Fixed in
✓ 6.1.160 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.120 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.62 6.12.x ✓ 6.17.12 6.17.x ✓ 6.18.1 6.18.x ✓ 6.19

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-68259 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2025-68259?

    CVE-2025-68259 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.0 onward and has been patched in 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.62 and others. CVE-2025-68259 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-68259?

    Yes — CVE-2025-68259 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.62 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 6.0 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2025-68259 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2025-68259 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.