CVE-2025-68768 (GCVE-0-2025-68768)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-01-13 15:28 – Updated: 2026-01-13 15:28
VLAI?
Title
inet: frags: flush pending skbs in fqdir_pre_exit()
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
inet: frags: flush pending skbs in fqdir_pre_exit()
We have been seeing occasional deadlocks on pernet_ops_rwsem since
September in NIPA. The stuck task was usually modprobe (often loading
a driver like ipvlan), trying to take the lock as a Writer.
lockdep does not track readers for rwsems so the read wasn't obvious
from the reports.
On closer inspection the Reader holding the lock was conntrack looping
forever in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list(). Based on past experience
with occasional NIPA crashes I looked thru the tests which run before
the crash and noticed that the crash follows ip_defrag.sh. An immediate
red flag. Scouring thru (de)fragmentation queues reveals skbs sitting
around, holding conntrack references.
The problem is that since conntrack depends on nf_defrag_ipv6,
nf_defrag_ipv6 will load first. Since nf_defrag_ipv6 loads first its
netns exit hooks run _after_ conntrack's netns exit hook.
Flush all fragment queue SKBs during fqdir_pre_exit() to release
conntrack references before conntrack cleanup runs. Also flush
the queues in timer expiry handlers when they discover fqdir->dead
is set, in case packet sneaks in while we're running the pre_exit
flush.
The commit under Fixes is not exactly the culprit, but I think
previously the timer firing would eventually unblock the spinning
conntrack.
Severity ?
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
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"programFiles": [
"include/net/inet_frag.h",
"include/net/ipv6_frag.h",
"net/ipv4/inet_fragment.c",
"net/ipv4/ip_fragment.c"
],
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"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
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"version": "5.3"
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"version": "0",
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"version": "6.19-rc2",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ninet: frags: flush pending skbs in fqdir_pre_exit()\n\nWe have been seeing occasional deadlocks on pernet_ops_rwsem since\nSeptember in NIPA. The stuck task was usually modprobe (often loading\na driver like ipvlan), trying to take the lock as a Writer.\nlockdep does not track readers for rwsems so the read wasn\u0027t obvious\nfrom the reports.\n\nOn closer inspection the Reader holding the lock was conntrack looping\nforever in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list(). Based on past experience\nwith occasional NIPA crashes I looked thru the tests which run before\nthe crash and noticed that the crash follows ip_defrag.sh. An immediate\nred flag. Scouring thru (de)fragmentation queues reveals skbs sitting\naround, holding conntrack references.\n\nThe problem is that since conntrack depends on nf_defrag_ipv6,\nnf_defrag_ipv6 will load first. Since nf_defrag_ipv6 loads first its\nnetns exit hooks run _after_ conntrack\u0027s netns exit hook.\n\nFlush all fragment queue SKBs during fqdir_pre_exit() to release\nconntrack references before conntrack cleanup runs. Also flush\nthe queues in timer expiry handlers when they discover fqdir-\u003edead\nis set, in case packet sneaks in while we\u0027re running the pre_exit\nflush.\n\nThe commit under Fixes is not exactly the culprit, but I think\npreviously the timer firing would eventually unblock the spinning\nconntrack."
}
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"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-01-13T15:28:47.106Z",
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"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c70df25214ac9b32b53e18e6ae3b8f073ffa6903"
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{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/006a5035b495dec008805df249f92c22c89c3d2e"
}
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"title": "inet: frags: flush pending skbs in fqdir_pre_exit()",
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"cveId": "CVE-2025-68768",
"datePublished": "2026-01-13T15:28:47.106Z",
"dateReserved": "2025-12-24T10:30:51.034Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-01-13T15:28:47.106Z",
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"vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
"nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2025-68768\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"published\":\"2026-01-13T16:15:56.247\",\"lastModified\":\"2026-01-14T16:26:00.933\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Awaiting Analysis\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\\n\\ninet: frags: flush pending skbs in fqdir_pre_exit()\\n\\nWe have been seeing occasional deadlocks on pernet_ops_rwsem since\\nSeptember in NIPA. The stuck task was usually modprobe (often loading\\na driver like ipvlan), trying to take the lock as a Writer.\\nlockdep does not track readers for rwsems so the read wasn\u0027t obvious\\nfrom the reports.\\n\\nOn closer inspection the Reader holding the lock was conntrack looping\\nforever in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list(). Based on past experience\\nwith occasional NIPA crashes I looked thru the tests which run before\\nthe crash and noticed that the crash follows ip_defrag.sh. An immediate\\nred flag. Scouring thru (de)fragmentation queues reveals skbs sitting\\naround, holding conntrack references.\\n\\nThe problem is that since conntrack depends on nf_defrag_ipv6,\\nnf_defrag_ipv6 will load first. Since nf_defrag_ipv6 loads first its\\nnetns exit hooks run _after_ conntrack\u0027s netns exit hook.\\n\\nFlush all fragment queue SKBs during fqdir_pre_exit() to release\\nconntrack references before conntrack cleanup runs. Also flush\\nthe queues in timer expiry handlers when they discover fqdir-\u003edead\\nis set, in case packet sneaks in while we\u0027re running the pre_exit\\nflush.\\n\\nThe commit under Fixes is not exactly the culprit, but I think\\npreviously the timer firing would eventually unblock the spinning\\nconntrack.\"}],\"metrics\":{},\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/006a5035b495dec008805df249f92c22c89c3d2e\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c70df25214ac9b32b53e18e6ae3b8f073ffa6903\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"}]}}"
}
}
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Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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