CVE-2025-68816
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5: fw_tracer, Validate format string parameters Add validation for format string parameters in the firmware tracer to prevent potential security vulnerabilities and crashes from malformed format strings received from firmware. The firmware tracer receives format strings from the device firmware and uses them to format trace messages. Without proper validation, bad firmware could provide format strings with invalid format specifiers (e.g., %s, %p, %n) that could lead to crashes, or other undefined behavior. Add mlx5_tracer_validate_params() to validate that all format specifiers in trace strings are limited to safe integer/hex formats (%x, %d, %i, %u, %llx, %lx, etc.). Reject strings containing other format types that could be used to access arbitrary memory or cause crashes. Invalid format strings are added to the trace output for visibility with "BAD_FORMAT: " prefix.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
4.19
and later are affected. Fixed in
5.10.248,
5.15.198,
6.1.160,
6.6.120,
6.12.64,
6.18.3,
6.19
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-68816 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/38ac688b52ef26a88f8bc4fe26d24fdd0ff91e5d
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/45bd283b1d69e2c97cddcb9956f0e0261fc4efd7
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/768d559f466cdd72849110a7ecd76a21d52dcfe3
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2025-68816?
CVE-2025-68816 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.19 onward and has been patched in 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160 and others. CVE-2025-68816 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-68816?
Yes — CVE-2025-68816 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.19 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2025-68816 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2025-68816 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.