UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68259: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Q: Which systems are exposed to this issue?

The listed affected Ubuntu kernel packages are linux-riscv, linux-realtime, linux-azure, linux-gcp, linux-azure-fde, linux-hwe-edge, linux-gke, and linux-gkeop. The issue concerns KVM's SVM implementation, so exposure requires use of that virtualization path.

Q: What conditions are needed for the issue to manifest?

A soft interrupt from an INT3, INTO, or certain INTn instruction must be re-injected after the code stream changes between CPU execution and KVM decoding the instruction's next RIP. The description gives another vCPU modifying the code stream as an example.

Q: What is the practical impact?

KVM can decode an unrelated instruction and use an incorrect next RIP, which can clobber guest state. The issue commonly appears as "Oops: int3" panics in Linux guests during static-branch code patching.

Published Dec 16, 2025

Updated

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

Affected Software

150 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<6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1

6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8<6.8.0-1059.65~22.04.1

6.8.0-1059.65~22.04.1

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<6.8.0-1054.57~22.04.1

6.8.0-1054.57~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8<6.8.0-1051.51~22.04.1

6.8.0-1051.51~22.04.1

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<6.8.0-110.110.1~22.04.1

6.8.0-110.110.1~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8<6.8.0-1051.54~22.04.1

6.8.0-1051.54~22.04.1

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<6.8.0-1049.50~22.04.1

6.8.0-1049.50~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8<6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8<6.8.1-1047.48~22.04.1

6.8.1-1047.48~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux<6.8.0-110.110

6.8.0-110.110

ubuntu/linux-aws<6.8.0-1052.55

6.8.0-1052.55

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17<6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.2

6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.2

ubuntu/linux-azure<6.8.0-1054.60

6.8.0-1054.60

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17<6.17.0-1010.10~24.04.1

6.17.0-1010.10~24.04.1

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<6.8.0-1054.57

6.8.0-1054.57

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17<6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.3

6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.3

ubuntu/linux-gke<6.8.0-1050.56

6.8.0-1050.56

ubuntu/linux-gkeop<6.8.0-1037.40

6.8.0-1037.40

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17<6.17.0-19.19~24.04.2

6.17.0-19.19~24.04.2

ubuntu/linux-ibm<6.8.0-1051.51

6.8.0-1051.51

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency<6.8.0-110.110.1

6.8.0-110.110.1

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia<6.8.0-1051.54

6.8.0-1051.54

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17<6.17.0-1018.18

6.17.0-1018.18

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency<6.8.0-1051.54.1

6.8.0-1051.54.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra<6.8.0-1022.22

6.8.0-1022.22

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17<6.17.0-1017.17

6.17.0-1017.17

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.8.0-1049.50

6.8.0-1049.50

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17<6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.1

6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.8.0-1052.56

6.8.0-1052.56

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17<6.17.0-19.19.1~24.04.1

6.17.0-19.19.1~24.04.1

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<6.8.0-2042.43

6.8.0-2042.43

ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.8.1-1047.48

6.8.1-1047.48

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17<6.17.0-1008.9~24.04.1

6.17.0-1008.9~24.04.1

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

6.8.0-1052.55+fips1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips<6.8.0-1053.59+fips1

6.8.0-1053.59+fips1

ubuntu/linux-fips<6.8.0-110.110+fips2

6.8.0-110.110+fips2

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips<6.8.0-1054.57+fips1

6.8.0-1054.57+fips1

ubuntu/linux<6.17.0-19.19

6.17.0-19.19

ubuntu/linux-aws<6.17.0-1009.9

6.17.0-1009.9

ubuntu/linux-azure<6.17.0-1010.10

6.17.0-1010.10

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.17.0-1009.9

6.17.0-1009.9

ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.17.0-1009.9

6.17.0-1009.9

ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.17.0-1010.10

6.17.0-1010.10

ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.17.0-1008.9

6.17.0-1008.9

ubuntu/linux-riscv<6.17.0-19.19.1

6.17.0-19.19.1

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 6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1059.65~22.04.1
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 6.8.0-1054.57~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.51~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110.1~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.54~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.50~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1047.48~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.2
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1054.60
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1010.10~24.04.1
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 6.8.0-1054.57
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.3
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.56
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gkeop to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1037.40
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-19.19~24.04.2
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.51
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.54
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1018.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.54.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1022.22
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1017.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.50
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1009.9~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.56
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-19.19.1~24.04.1
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 6.8.0-2042.43
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1047.48
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.9~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1053.59+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-110.110+fips2
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1054.57+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-19.19
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1009.9
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1010.10
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1009.9
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1009.9
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1010.10
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.9
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.17.0-19.19.1

Event History

Dec 16, 2025

CVE Published

via OSV·03:15 PM

Data Sourced

via OSV·03:15 PM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are exposed to this issue?

The listed affected Ubuntu kernel packages are linux-riscv, linux-realtime, linux-azure, linux-gcp, linux-azure-fde, linux-hwe-edge, linux-gke, and linux-gkeop. The issue concerns KVM's SVM implementation, so exposure requires use of that virtualization path.

What conditions are needed for the issue to manifest?

A soft interrupt from an INT3, INTO, or certain INTn instruction must be re-injected after the code stream changes between CPU execution and KVM decoding the instruction's next RIP. The description gives another vCPU modifying the code stream as an example.

What is the practical impact?

KVM can decode an unrelated instruction and use an incorrect next RIP, which can clobber guest state. The issue commonly appears as "Oops: int3" panics in Linux guests during static-branch code patching.

UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68259: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are exposed to this issue?

What conditions are needed for the issue to manifest?

What is the practical impact?

Company

Resources

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