CVE-2025-68368

CVE-2025-68368 is a security vulnerability that is still awaiting full analysis and scoring. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low.

Key facts

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md: init bioset in mddev_init IO operations may be needed before md_run(), such as updating metadata after writing sysfs. Without bioset, this triggers a NULL pointer dereference as below: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000020 Call Trace: md_update_sb+0x658/0xe00 new_level_store+0xc5/0x120 md_attr_store+0xc9/0x1e0 sysfs_kf_write+0x6f/0xa0 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x141/0x2a0 vfs_write+0x1fc/0x5a0 ksys_write+0x79/0x180 __x64_sys_write+0x1d/0x30 x64_sys_call+0x2818/0x2880 do_syscall_64+0xa9/0x580 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 Reproducer ``` mdadm -CR /dev/md0 -l1 -n2 /dev/sd[cd] echo inactive > /sys/block/md0/md/array_state echo 10 > /sys/block/md0/md/new_level ``` mddev_init() can only be called once per mddev, no need to test if bioset has been initialized anymore.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-68368?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md: init bioset in mddev_init IO operations may be needed before md_run(), such as updating metadata after writing sysfs. Without bioset, this triggers a NULL pointer dereference as below: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000020 Call Trace: md_update_sb+0x658/0xe00 new_level_store+0xc5/0x120 md_attr_store+0xc9/0x1e0 sysfs_kf_write+0x6f/0xa0 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x141/0x2a0 vfs_write+0x1fc/0x5a0 ksys_write+0x79/0x180 __x64_sys_write+0x1d/0x30 x64_sys_call+0x2818/0x2880 do_syscall_64+0xa9/0x580 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 Reproducer ``` mdadm -CR /dev/md0 -l1 -n2 /dev/sd[cd] echo inactive > /sys/block/md0/md/array_state echo 10 > /sys/block/md0/md/new_level ``` mddev_init() can only be called once per mddev, no need to test if bioset has been initialized anymore.
Is CVE-2025-68368 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (4th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-68368?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2025-68368 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2025-68368 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-205086.
When was CVE-2025-68368 published?
CVE-2025-68368 was published on 2025-12-24 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References