# CVE-2025-68176: PCI: cadence: Check for the existence of cdns_pcie::ops before using it

> A missing null check in the Linux kernel PCI Cadence driver can cause a system crash when specific hardware configurations are used.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-68176, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68176, GHSA-79wh-89xp-4888, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-68176, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68176, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68176

## What is CVE-2025-68176?

CVE-2025-68176 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

PCI: cadence: Check for the existence of cdns_pcie::ops before using it

cdns_pcie::ops might not be populated by all the Cadence glue drivers. This
is going to be true for the upcoming Sophgo platform which doesn't set the
ops.

Hence, add a check to prevent NULL pointer dereference.

[mani: reworded subject and description]

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68176?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-68176?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-68176 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68176 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68176 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68176 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68176 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68176/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68176/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68176
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68176
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68176

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68176/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.