# CVE-2025-68253: mm: don't spin in add_stack_record when gfp flags don't allow

> A local attacker can cause a denial of service by triggering a spin loop in the Linux kernel's page owner tracking when specific allocation contexts 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-2025-68253, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-68253, GHSA-v2rp-vw7g-7xqw, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-68253

## What is CVE-2025-68253?

CVE-2025-68253 is a denial of service 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:

mm: don't spin in add_stack_record when gfp flags don't allow

syzbot was able to find the following path:
  add_stack_record_to_list mm/page_owner.c:182 [inline]
  inc_stack_record_count mm/page_owner.c:214 [inline]
  __set_page_owner+0x2c3/0x4a0 mm/page_owner.c:333
  set_page_owner include/linux/page_owner.h:32 [inline]
  post_alloc_hook+0x240/0x2a0 mm/page_alloc.c:1851
  prep_new_page mm/page_alloc.c:1859 [inline]
  get_page_from_freelist+0x21e4/0x22c0 mm/page_alloc.c:3858
  alloc_pages_nolock_noprof+0x94/0x120 mm/page_alloc.c:7554

Don't spin in add_stack_record_to_list() when it is called
from *_nolock() context.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-68253?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-68253?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-68253 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-68253 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-68253 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-68253 is a denial of service 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-2025-68253 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-2025-68253/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68253/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-68253
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68253
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-68253

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68253/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.