# CVE-2025-68177: cpufreq/longhaul: handle NULL policy in longhaul_exit

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel cpufreq longhaul driver can cause a system crash or panic, requiring a kernel patch.

- **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-2025-68177, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68177, GHSA-q4w5-8ph4-32c6, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-68177, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-68177, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-68177, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68177, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68177

## What is CVE-2025-68177?

CVE-2025-68177 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:

cpufreq/longhaul: handle NULL policy in longhaul_exit

longhaul_exit() was calling cpufreq_cpu_get(0) without checking
for a NULL policy pointer. On some systems, this could lead to a
NULL dereference and a kernel warning or panic.

This patch adds a check using unlikely() and returns early if the
policy is NULL.

Bugzilla: #219962

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68177?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-68177?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-68177 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68177 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68177 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68177 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-2025-68177 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-2025-68177/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68177/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68177
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68177
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68177

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68177/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.