# CVE-2025-68183: ima: don't clear IMA_DIGSIG flag when setting or removing non-IMA xattr

> An attacker can bypass IMA signature verification by modifying non-IMA extended attributes, causing the kernel to downgrade signatures to hashes.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-68183, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68183, GHSA-w26q-x7h4-9gc5, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-68183, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-68183, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-68183, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68183

## What is CVE-2025-68183?

CVE-2025-68183 is a high-severity 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:

ima: don't clear IMA_DIGSIG flag when setting or removing non-IMA xattr

Currently when both IMA and EVM are in fix mode, the IMA signature will
be reset to IMA hash if a program first stores IMA signature in
security.ima and then writes/removes some other security xattr for the
file.

For example, on Fedora, after booting the kernel with "ima_appraise=fix
evm=fix ima_policy=appraise_tcb" and installing rpm-plugin-ima,
installing/reinstalling a package will not make good reference IMA
signature generated. Instead IMA hash is generated,

    # getfattr -m - -d -e hex /usr/bin/bash
    # file: usr/bin/bash
    security.ima=0x0404...

This happens because when setting security.selinux, the IMA_DIGSIG flag
that had been set early was cleared. As a result, IMA hash is generated
when the file is closed.

Similarly, IMA signature can be cleared on file close after removing
security xattr like security.evm or setting/removing ACL.

Prevent replacing the IMA file signature with a file hash, by preventing
the IMA_DIGSIG flag from being reset.

Here's a minimal C reproducer which sets security.selinux as the last
step which can also replaced by removing security.evm or setting ACL,

    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <sys/xattr.h>
    #include <fcntl.h>
    #include <unistd.h>
    #include <string.h>
    #include <stdlib.h>

    int main() {
        const char* file_path = "/usr/sbin/test_binary";
        const char* hex_string = "030204d33204490066306402304";
        int length = strlen(hex_string);
        char* ima_attr_value;
        int fd;

        fd = open(file_path, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0644);
        if (fd == -1) {
            perror("Error opening file");
            return 1;
        }

        ima_attr_value = (char*)malloc(length / 2 );
        for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < length; i += 2, j++) {
            sscanf(hex_string + i, "%2hhx", &ima_attr_value[j]);
        }

        if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.ima", ima_attr_value, length/2, 0) == -1) {
            perror("Error setting extended attribute");
            close(fd);
            return 1;
        }

        const char* selinux_value= "system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0";
        if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.selinux", selinux_value, strlen(selinux_value), 0) == -1) {
            perror("Error setting extended attribute");
            close(fd);
            return 1;
        }

        close(fd);

        return 0;
    }

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68183?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-68183?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-68183 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68183 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68183 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68183 is a high-severity 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-2025-68183 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-2025-68183/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68183/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68183
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68183
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68183

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68183/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.