CVE-2025-68810VulnerabilityPublished 13 Jan 2026Updated 30 Jul 2026

CVE-2025-68810: Linux kernel · KVM: Disallow toggling KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD on an existing memslot Reject

Source GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 Jan 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-65g7-h87v-v85m

What to do

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to reject attempts to toggle the KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD flag on existing memslots that were initially created with this flag. Users and administrators should apply the official Linux kernel updates that include this fix. Since this is a kernel-level vulnerability, upgrading to a patched kernel version is the recommended remediation. Patch status is not explicitly stated in the provided data; therefore, check the Linux kernel vendor advisory for the exact fixed versions and apply updates accordingly.

Description

A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's KVM subsystem was resolved by disallowing toggling the KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD flag on an existing memory slot. The issue arises when attempts to disable this flag on a memslot initially created with guest_memfd binding are not rejected, leading to improper unbinding and a use-after-free condition. This vulnerability can cause memory corruption and potentially allow privilege escalation or denial of service. The flaw was identified and fixed to prevent such toggling, addressing the root cause rather than just the symptom.

Impact

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to use-after-free memory corruption within the KVM kernel module. This may result in system instability, crashes, or potentially privilege escalation due to corrupted kernel memory. The CVSS 3.1 vector indicates local attack vector with low attack complexity, requiring low privileges, no user interaction, and impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability with high severity.

Summary

The Linux kernel's KVM module did not prevent clearing the KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD flag on an existing memslot that was originally created with this flag set. This improper handling led to a use-after-free vulnerability because KVM failed to unbind from the guest_memfd instance when the flag was cleared. The vulnerability was detected by KASAN (Kernel Address Sanitizer) showing slab-use-after-free in kvm_gmem_release. The fix involves rejecting attempts to disable KVM_MEM_GUEST_MEMFD on memslots initially created with guest_memfd binding, preventing the use-after-free condition. This patch addresses the underlying cause rather than just mitigating the symptom.

References

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