UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68198: Null Pointer Dereference

Q: Which systems are exposed to this issue?

Systems using the listed Ubuntu Linux kernel packages are affected when crashkernel is configured with a high-memory reservation and its size is subsequently reduced below the low crashkernel reservation. The described failure occurs during runtime resizing through /sys/kernel/kexec_crash_size.

Q: What access is needed to trigger the crash?

Triggering the issue requires the ability to change the crashkernel size by writing to /sys/kernel/kexec_crash_size. The problematic sequence is shrinking a high crashkernel reservation below its low reservation and then shrinking it again.

Q: How can I tell whether the bad resize behavior has occurred?

Check /proc/iomem for entries labeled "Crash kernel" after reducing the reservation. In the described case, shrinking to 50 MB left the low-memory Crash kernel reservation at 256 MB rather than updating it to the requested 50 MB.

Q: What can be done if an update cannot be applied immediately?

Avoid shrinking a crashkernel configured with a high reservation below its low crashkernel reservation, and do not perform repeated shrinking operations. This prevents the invalid crashkernel resource state that can lead to a kernel NULL pointer dereference.

Published Dec 16, 2025

Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crash: fix crashkernel resource shrink When crashkernel is configured with a high reservation, shrinking its value below the low crashkernel reservation causes two issues: 1. Invalid crashkernel resource objects 2. Kernel crash if crashkernel shrinking is done twice For example, with crashkernel=200M,high, the kernel reserves 200MB of high memory and some default low memory (say 256MB). The reservation appears as: cat /proc/iomem | grep -i crash af000000-beffffff : Crash kernel 433000000-43f7fffff : Crash kernel If crashkernel is then shrunk to 50MB (echo 52428800 > /sys/kernel/kexeccrashsize), /proc/iomem still shows 256MB reserved: af000000-beffffff : Crash kernel Instead, it should show 50MB: af000000-b21fffff : Crash kernel Further shrinking crashkernel to 40MB causes a kernel crash with the following trace (x86): BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000038 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI <snip...> Call Trace: <TASK> ? diebody.cold+0x19/0x27 ? pagefaultoops+0x15a/0x2f0 ? searchmoduleextables+0x19/0x60 ? searchbpfextables+0x5f/0x80 ? excpagefault+0x7e/0x180 ? asmexcpagefault+0x26/0x30 ? releaseresource+0xd/0xb0 releaseresource+0x26/0x40 crashshrinkmemory+0xe5/0x110 crashshrinkmemory+0x12a/0x190 kexeccrashsizestore+0x41/0x80 kernfsfopwriteiter+0x141/0x1f0 vfswrite+0x294/0x460 ksyswrite+0x6d/0xf0 <snip...> This happens because crashshrinkmemory()/kernel/crashcore.c incorrectly updates the crashkres resource object even when crashklowres should be updated. Fix this by ensuring the correct crashkernel resource object is updated when shrinking crashkernel memory.

Affected Software

147 affected componentsFixes available

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-oem*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-raspi2*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8<6.8.0-1050.53~22.04.1

6.8.0-1050.53~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8<6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1

6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8<6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1

6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8<6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1

6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1

6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8<6.8.0-1049.49~22.04.1

6.8.0-1049.49~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-106.106.1~22.04.1

6.8.0-106.106.1~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8<6.8.0-1049.52~22.04.1

6.8.0-1049.52~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8<6.8.0-1047.48~22.04.1

6.8.0-1047.48~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8<6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1

6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8<6.8.1-1045.46~22.04.1

6.8.1-1045.46~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux<6.8.0-106.106

6.8.0-106.106

ubuntu/linux-aws<6.8.0-1050.53

6.8.0-1050.53

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17<6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1

6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure<6.8.0-1051.57

6.8.0-1051.57

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<6.8.0-1058.65

6.8.0-1058.65

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia<6.8.0-1039.42

6.8.0-1039.42

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.8.0-1052.55

6.8.0-1052.55

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17<6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1

6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gke<6.8.0-1048.53

6.8.0-1048.53

ubuntu/linux-gkeop<6.8.0-1035.38

6.8.0-1035.38

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-ibm<6.8.0-1049.49

6.8.0-1049.49

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency<6.8.0-106.106.1

6.8.0-106.106.1

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia<6.8.0-1049.52

6.8.0-1049.52

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17<6.17.0-1008.8

6.17.0-1008.8

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency<6.8.0-1049.52.1

6.8.0-1049.52.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra<6.8.0-1020.20

6.8.0-1020.20

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17<6.17.0-1011.11

6.17.0-1011.11

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.8.0-1047.48

6.8.0-1047.48

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17<6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1

6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.8.0-1050.54

6.8.0-1050.54

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-xilinx<6.8.0-1028.29

6.8.0-1028.29

ubuntu/linux-bluefield<6.8.0-1017.21

6.8.0-1017.21

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime<6.8.0-2040.41

6.8.0-2040.41

ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.8.1-1045.46

6.8.1-1045.46

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17<6.17.0-1006.7~24.04.1

6.17.0-1006.7~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips<6.8.0-1050.53+fips1

6.8.0-1050.53+fips1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips<6.8.0-1052.58+fips1

6.8.0-1052.58+fips1

ubuntu/linux-fips<6.8.0-106.106+fips1

6.8.0-106.106+fips1

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips<6.8.0-1052.55+fips1

6.8.0-1052.55+fips1

ubuntu/linux<6.17.0-14.14

6.17.0-14.14

ubuntu/linux-aws<6.17.0-1007.7

6.17.0-1007.7

ubuntu/linux-azure<6.17.0-1008.8

6.17.0-1008.8

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.17.0-1007.7

6.17.0-1007.7

ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.17.0-1007.7

6.17.0-1007.7

ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.17.0-1008.8

6.17.0-1008.8

ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.17.0-1006.7

6.17.0-1006.7

ubuntu/linux-riscv<6.17.0-14.14.1

6.17.0-14.14.1

ubuntu/linux-vmware*

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.53~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.49~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106.1~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.52~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1047.48~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1045.46~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.53
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.57
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.65
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1039.42
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1048.53
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gkeop to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1035.38
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.49
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.52
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.52.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1020.20
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1011.11
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1047.48
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.54
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-xilinx to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1028.29
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-bluefield to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1017.21
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-2040.41
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1045.46
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1006.7~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.53+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.58+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-14.14
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1006.7
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-14.14.1

Event History

Dec 16, 2025

CVE Published

via OSV·02:15 PM

Data Sourced

via OSV·02:15 PM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are exposed to this issue?

Systems using the listed Ubuntu Linux kernel packages are affected when crashkernel is configured with a high-memory reservation and its size is subsequently reduced below the low crashkernel reservation. The described failure occurs during runtime resizing through /sys/kernel/kexec_crash_size.

What access is needed to trigger the crash?

Triggering the issue requires the ability to change the crashkernel size by writing to /sys/kernel/kexec_crash_size. The problematic sequence is shrinking a high crashkernel reservation below its low reservation and then shrinking it again.

How can I tell whether the bad resize behavior has occurred?

Check /proc/iomem for entries labeled "Crash kernel" after reducing the reservation. In the described case, shrinking to 50 MB left the low-memory Crash kernel reservation at 256 MB rather than updating it to the requested 50 MB.

What can be done if an update cannot be applied immediately?

Avoid shrinking a crashkernel configured with a high reservation below its low crashkernel reservation, and do not perform repeated shrinking operations. This prevents the invalid crashkernel resource state that can lead to a kernel NULL pointer dereference.

UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68198: Null Pointer Dereference

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are exposed to this issue?

What access is needed to trigger the crash?

How can I tell whether the bad resize behavior has occurred?

What can be done if an update cannot be applied immediately?

Company

Resources

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are exposed to this issue?

What access is needed to trigger the crash?

How can I tell whether the bad resize behavior has occurred?

What can be done if an update cannot be applied immediately?